GDA 2019: Leonardo presents training systems, avionics and other solutions for Kuwait’s safety and security.

Leonardo is attending the fifth edition of Gulf Defense and Aerospace (GDA), an international, tri-service exhibition and conference which is being held in Kuwait from the 10th to the 12th December 2019.

Leonardo stand at GDA 2019 (Picture source: Leonardo)

Leonardo’s technologies are already in-service in Kuwait. The Company has provided infrastructure for Kuwait City Airport including data management systems, primary radar and an ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) system for air traffic control. Leonardo also recently provided Kuwait City Airport Terminal 4’s new baggage handling system.

Now, in the most important undertaking between Leonardo and Kuwait to-date, the Company will start delivering Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft from the end of 2020. Final assembly of the first five aircraft for the Kuwait Air Force is underway at Leonardo’s plant in Torino-Caselle and deliveries of 28 aircraft will continue until 2023. Kuwait will receive the most advanced Typhoon configuration yet produced, featuring the Captor-E (E-scan) radar and weapon system upgrades that will place the Kuwait Air Force at the leading edge of fighter technology. The Eurofighter Typhoon, which is produced jointly by Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, has been a great success in the Middle East where it has been ordered also by Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar. Leonardo has a 36% workshare in Typhoon and is responsible for more than 60% of the aircraft’s electronics.

Eurofighter Typhoon (Picture source: Leonardo)

Over the past two years, many Kuwaiti Air Force pilots have earned their wings at the Italian Air Force International Training Academy, using Leonardo’s Aermacchi MB-339 and its new M-346 Integrated Training System (ITS), which will soon be operated alongside the Leonardo M- 345 basic/advanced trainer. These innovative training solutions, on show at Leonardo’s stand at GDA (Hall 5, B829), are also the basis of the syllabus being proposed by the International Flight Training School (IFTS) ) powered by Leonardo for the Italian Air Force. The IFTS, which is underpinned by Leonardo’s training capabilities and set to become an international benchmark for advanced pilot training (starting with Phase IV - Advanced/Lead-In Fighter Training), offers customised teaching modules which meet the requirements of world-class Air Forces. These modules can also reduce the need for expensive flight hours with an Operation Conversion Unit(OCU), saving time and valuable resources.

Leonardo is also a technological leader in the field of airborne sensors and protection technology, such as the world-first BriteCloud Expendable Active Decoy (EAD), SEER Radar Warning Receiver (RWR), and Miysis Directed Infrared Counter-Measure (DIRCM), all of which are readily exportable to the region and will be on-show in Kuwait. The Miysis DIRCM has proved its ability to defeat incoming Infra-Red missiles in demanding live fire exercises, and has already been ordered by the UK’s Royal Air Force and by a customer in the Middle East.

MIYISIS DIRCM. The system provides dependable, persistent protection from IR-guided missiles, including advanced, all-aspect Man Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) and features a multi-threat capability. (Picture source: Army Recognition)

At GDA, Leonardo will also be promoting the Falco Xplorer, the Company’s brand new surveillance drone which features a payload capacity of 350kg and more than 24 hours flight time. The Falco Xplorer is the largest Remotely-Piloted Air System (RPAS) Leonardo has ever produced and offers persistent, multi-sensor strategic surveillance for military and civil customers, either as an integrated product or as a managed service. In the region, the Company is also marketing its counter-drone solutions, which are already in operation with Italian, UK and US armed forces.

Leonardo will also be highlighting its extensive experience in designing and delivering comprehensive C4I solutions. Systems can be tailored to include everything from command and control centres down to individual soldier systems, including a suite of Software Defined Radios (SDR) for land and joint forces.

The GDA event will also be an occasion for Leonardo to highlight its capabilities in the naval domain, including command and control systems for protection and surveillance, radars and optronics for the identification and monitoring potential threats as well as vessels in trouble in all weather conditions, highly-accurate defence systems and internal/external communications systems. Leonardo has the know-how required to both refurbish and upgrade operational vessels and to develop a ship’s entire mission system architecture, integrating all components and assuring functionality and reliability.

In the wider region, more than 20 UAE Navy vessels are equipped with Leonardo Combat Systems and the Company is also upgrading six Royal Bahrain Naval Force ships with its state of the art technologies, three of which have already been delivered to the customer. The upgrade includes anew weapon control system, training services and logistics.