Military and Strategic Journal
Issued by the Directorate of Morale Guidance at the General Command of the Armed Forces
United Arab Emirates
Founded in August 1971

2019-08-08

Leonardo Unveils Largest-Ever Drone

“The Falco Xplorer”
 
A Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), the Falco Xplorer is the new Leonardo solution for persistent multisensory strategic surveillance. A state-of-the-art system, Xplorer provides Leonardo’s customers with persistent, actionable Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR). 
 
Leonardo introduced the Falco Xplorer as its largest-ever RPAS at Paris Air Show 2019. Powered by a conventional aviation engine and offering 24-hours-plus duration, it gathers information far over the horizon, relayed in real time via secure satellite connection to C4I centres. 
 
Typical system configurations include a Ground Control Station (GCS) connected to a Ground Data Terminal (GDT), a Ground Support Equipment (GSE) and two Aircrafts, designed in accordance with NATO STANAG 4671, now awaiting military certification to fly for NATO countries. Relocation of the Xplorer system is unproblematic for customers because its logistic footprint is kept to minimum and the whole system can be relocated via ISO-668 air transportable containers in a few hours. 
 
The Falco Xplorer system aims to fulfil dual-use requirements covering 24/7, all-weather persistent regional surveillance for wide-ranging missions and military roles (theatre persistent multispectral surveillance). Its government missions include border patrolling, coastal watch, illegal immigration prevention, law enforcement, critical infrastructures surveillance, EEZ surveillance and environmental monitoring.
 
The unmanned aircraft features a V-shaped tail boom, a pusher propeller and retractable landing gear, with open architecture integrating various payloads. The new drone has a payload capacity of 350kg, more than 24-hours flight time and a satellite communications capability for beyond-radio-line-of-sight operations within a 1.3-tonne maximum-take-off weight (MTOW). 
 
The production advantage is that Leonardo designs everything in-house, from the aircraft itself to the sensor suite, mission system and ground control station. Hence, Falco Xplorer will be offered both as an integrated platform and a fully managed information-superiority service with Leonardo operating the aircraft and its sensors while managing logistics to provide actionable information directly to the customer. 
 
“Leonardo invests continuously in new capabilities to ensure we position the right products in the right markets”, assures Leonardo CEO, Alessandro Profumo. “The Falco Xplorer is designed to be extremely competitive in its category, building on the experience we’ve gained working with Falco family customers over a number of years and on our company’s strengths in the unmanned domain, we expect to increase our share of the unmanned systems market.”
 
In the belief that unmanned capability should go beyond the aircraft, Leonardo has designed the new RPAS baseline ‘Block 10’ equipment taking advantage of Leonardo’s world-class in-house electronics portfolio. In offering a comprehensive Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability over land and sea, this high level integration offers the dual benefits of a highly capable and effective system at a competitive price.
 
Multispectral Sensor Suite
Delivering customers an unparalleled, customisable situational awareness and payload capability, Leonardo’s broad multispectral sensor suite is composed of a multifunction Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), an electro-optical multi-sensor gyro-stabilised turret and a Signal Intelligence Suite. The sensor suite can also be adapted in-line, including for integrating third-party sensors, while the platform’s Ground Control Station (GCS) allows operators to control the aircraft and its sensors, incorporating data exploitation tools and enabling the dissemination of useful information to wider C5I systems. 
 
The platform also provides mission data analysis, mission planning, training and simulation capabilities. It comes equipped with Leonardo’s Gabbiano T80UL Multimode SAR Radar, LEOSS electro-optical turret, SAGE electronic intelligence (ELINT) system and an automatic identification system (AIS) for maritime use. 
 
Gabbiano T80UL Radar 
The Gabbiano Family provides a cost-effective state-of-the art, X-Band radar solution for at-sea, on-land and coastline surveillance in all-weather conditions. A high level of modularity and flexibility allows for operation on-board Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, as well as both fixed and rotary wing manned platforms. 
 
Gabbiano Ultra-Light provides long- and short-range surveillance capabilities for both civilian and military forces. With a high level of modularity and flexibility, the system is suited for operation aboard mini/small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs and fixed or rotary-wing small-manned platforms). 
 
Although installing a payload aboard mini and small manned/ unmanned platforms is challenging, Gabbiano Ultra-Light provides a solution in its 24kg weight, powered from a single 28VDC power supply source, providing top-capability performance for those platforms with demanding installation constraints. The Ultra-Light provides the features necessary for Homeland Security missions, primarily aimed at border protection or Combat Search & Rescue missions where high-resolution modes (Spot Synthetic Aperture Radar and Strip Synthetic Aperture Radar) provide a sub-metric resolution over wide swath areas, while GMTI mode allows detection of moving targets on ground and unique patents or owned proprietary techniques have been developed for High Resolution Radar Imaging.
 
Gabbiano Ultra-Light is ideal for Search & Rescue and long-range maritime surveillance missions with TWS and high-resolution ISAR enabling the user to classify the intercepted targets. SMTI and several standard beaconmodes are also available to complete the Search & Rescue features (SST-181X, DO-172 and SART classes), while a dedicated search mode is optimised for Oil Spill Detection.
 
The Air-to-Air mode allows detection and high-resolution imaging of air targets, with crew navigation aid provided through ground mapping, doppler beam sharpening, weather (compliant with civil certification standard) and beacon modes. Latest high computational capabilities guarantee wide growth and customisation by software updates.
 
SAGE ELINT system
SAGE is a digital ESM/ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) for RF intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, offering both single and multi-platform geo-location of RF assets, parallel wideband and channelised receivers. It delivers instantaneous detection and ELINT analysis for a range of aircraft from tactical UAVs and light helicopters to larger reconnaissance and maritime patrol aircraft. 
 
SAGE analyses the electromagnetic spectrum across land, sea and air to map the source of active emissions via highly-accurate Direction Finding (DF) antennas building target locations and providing situational awareness. Supplying advance threat warning while cueing other sensors, its state-of-the-art Electronic Support Measures (ESM) can be fitted and configured for all platforms. 
 
SAGE’s favourable SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) characteristics enable integration with other sensors and mission systems, providing packaging opportunities on many platforms including small UAVs to eliminate specialist ESM platforms and reduce costs, while its innovative SWaP provides a dual role ESM/ Radar Warning receiver. The sensors integrated through the powerful mission management system draw upon Leonardo’s manned and unmanned experience, providing standardised protection from cyber-attacks. 
 
Falco’s Air Segment
The Xplorer’s superior performance involves a flexible configuration accommodating several sensors/payloads to relieve crew workload. Assisted and automatic flight management includes automatic take-off/landing and real-time-target data-processing, dissemination and exploitation of automatic area-surveillance modes.
 
Easily adapted to integrate specific payloads, the Xplorer features seamless airport and airspace operations integration and reduced logistic foot-print. Falco thus delivers higher-tier performances at lower LCC than similar class systems.
 
Ground Control Segment
The Ground Control Station enables mission planning and rehearsal, pre-flight system check, mission management, flight plan re-tasking, mission playback and simulation for crew mission training. Command-and-control in real-time secure satellite datalink allows operational ranges spanning beyond the usual line-of-sight.
 
The surveillance flight plan flies automatically along the preprogrammed route including the take-off and landing phases, with manual override possible at any time. Off-line data evaluation and processing is also available for further diffusion through the C4I network in STANAG format, while real-time data can be received by small front-line units via Remote Video Terminals (RVT). 
 
Falco Family
The original Falco was chosen by five nations but its successor, Falco EVO, has been chosen for the United Nations MONUSCO humanitarian mission and deployed for the European Union’s Frontex surveillance research programme. Today more than 50 Falco RPAS are currently engaged on operations world-wide, some directly operated by customers and others owned and operated by Leonardo on behalf of customers. 
 
Following the unveiling, the new RPAS will undertake a series of trials this year, capped off by a flight campaign with the platform’s fully-integrated sensor suite on-board to be delivered to its launch customer as early as 2020. The Falco Xplorer has been designed from the ground-up to access the widest possible market and is undergoing certification for flight in non-segregated airspace, meaning Leonardo can to pitch it to civil customers, such as coastguards and emergency responders, as well as the military market.
 
As the Falco Xplorer system is entirely designed and manufactured in Europe, it is not subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restrictions, while its technical characteristics place it within the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) class II category. These credentials make the Falco Xplorer readily exportable around the world.
 

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