Leonardo Unveils Its Lightest-ever Radar For Unmanned Aircraft: Paris Air Show 2017

Leonardo has unveiled its new Gabbiano TS Ultra-Light (UL) surveillance radar integrated onto the company’s ‘Hero’ mini unmanned rotorcraft.

The system will be on display at the Paris Airshow Le Bourget 2017. The new multi-mode, multi-mission, mechanically scanning product, is Leonardo’s lightest-ever surveillance radar, the company said in a statement Friday.

The radar’s compact size and reduced weight (comprising just two units; a 12-inch nose antenna and separate Receiver Transmitter Processor (RTP)) make it ideally suited to such ‘mini’-class unmanned vehicles as well as the smallest manned fixed and rotary-winged aircraft.

The radar has access to the same extensive suite of modes that Leonardo has developed for the Gabbiano family since it was launched in 2008, making it an effective option for over-sea, over-ground and air-to-air surveillance.

Modes include optimised maritime patrol and search & rescue capabilities (small target, high sea state detection and automatic, long-range non-cooperative sea target recognition) as well as high resolution ground mapping (with both strip and spot synthetic aperture radar (SAR) modes), ground moving target indication (GMTI), weather avoidance and air-to-air search and track capabilities. The Gabbiano TS UL can also work with an Automated Identification System (AIS) and can cue electro-optic sensors, making it an effective and competitive solution for maritime patrol missions even from small or mid-size vessels.

The Gabbiano family equips aircraft ranging from unmanned vehicles such as the Hermes 450TM, Hermes 900TM and Leonardo Falco EVO to helicopters including the AW139 and AW101 and fixed-wing vehicles such as the KC-390, Beechcraft B350 and ATR42MP.