Leonardo returns to MSPO

Leonardo is participating in the MSPO in Poland, the International Defence Industry Exhibition that is held from 7 September 2021 to 10 September 2021 at Kielce.

During its 30-year presence in Poland, now one of Leonardo’s four domestic market, the company has made significant investment in Polish defence industry, mainly through Polish helicopter manufacturer PZL-Świdnik, and continues to do so with recent establishment of Leonardo Poland and partnerships with local companies. Leonardo aims at strengthening the growing commitment to the country, providing solutions for military, government and civilian customers. The goal is to deliver both state-of-the-art products and value added for the Polish economy while meeting the superior defence requirements.

In the four days of exhibition at MSPO, Leonardo is showcasing technology and product innovations related to aeronautical sector: from Eurofighter Typhoon, the most performing swing-role air superiority aircraft in Europe and backbone of European NATO air defence, to the M-346FA, effective light combat aircraft; a new Polish multirole helicopter; a special variant for Polish Army based on proven platform of AW139 and wide range of products and solutions for the Polish Navy, especially in the context of the “Miecznik” pogramme related to FREMM class frigates that Poland tends to acquire in cooperation with international partners. Also cybersecurity solutions will be showcased at Leonardo stand with particular focus on Cyber Range solution.

Namely the MSPO visitors are able to see the HH-139 helicopter, in to Poland not only for the MSPO, but also for dedicated demo tour to Poland. The show at MSPO is another step in promotion campaign of the helicopter on the Polish market. The new Polish AW139W Multirole Helicopter, based on AW139 platform proposed by Leonardo through PZL-Świdnik to the Polish Armed Forces can effectively and quickly increase its capabilities, while creating a completely new added value for the national economy in cooperation with the Polish industry.

Leonardo strongly beleives that  the Fighter Attack variant of the M-346 could be an ideal solution for PLAF. This high performance Light Combat Aircraft provides huge operational benefits and offers high commonalities to air forces already operating the M-346 trainer version. Great similarity to M-346 Polish Bielik would further decrease both operational costs, thanks to economy of scale and reduction of training time for pilots. M-346FA program would provide an innovation boost leading to the renewal of the Polish aeronautics industry capabilities. In terms of developing the technological expertise of local companies, partnering with Leonardo within M-346FA programme would enhance Polish defence industry’s growth, benefiting from 80 years of Leonardo’s experience in developing combat platforms and the vast experience of Polish aeronautical companies in production of jet fighters and trainers.

The wide range of state-of-art products of the Electronics are exhibited on the Leonardo stand. Those include guided munition, radar and FREMM Combat Management System, just to mention some of them. Leonardo is capable of providing 100% of the Combat Management System (CMS) for all class ships. Leonardo proposes also for Miecznik programme the latest ATHENA system, referred to as SADOC4 CMS. This is a complete solution for any type of ship. It is a solution for integrated presentation of sensor information, management of tactical situational awareness, coordination of all resources, sensors and weapons of the combat system and full integration with platform systems.

The ATHENA system has a high level of integration and automation, which reduces the operator’s workload in critical conditions, but also enables an automatic response to emerging threats. ATHENA is integrated with many NATO tactical data links and command support systems to enable automatic coordination of weapons systems, in terms of threat assessment, planning of operations and control of armaments during combat.

Among other programs worth to mention in Poland is for sure OCEAN2020 (Open Cooperation for European mAritime awareNess), the largest European funded defence research project for maritime surveillance, that sees Leonardo coordinating a team of 43 partners from 15 countries with a highly significant Polish participation.

At MSPO Leonardo isthen bringing to Polish attention the innovative Skydweller program: developed by Skydweller Aero Inc., a cutting-edge aerospace company, Skydweller will be a renewably-powered drone capable of carrying large and powerful payloads, for unprecedented endurance, for purposes ranging from land and maritime surveillance to monitoring the environment and infrastructure, from industrial geo-information services to telecommunications and precision navigation. Leonardo is a shareholder and technological investor in the company, will participate in development and engineering activities via a dedicated team, and it acts as the prime contractor for commercial opportunities in Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland and NATO.

Leonardo sees the room on the Polish market for its Cyber Range solution, a targeted training program, which – owing to advanced virtualization and complex cyber-attack scenarios – helps to gain practical experience. Leonardo aims to increasingly support Polish Defense, Police Forces & Critical National Infrastructures with its complete and integrated solutions for security and cyber domains – from professional communications and advanced command and control rooms, to Cyber Defence capabilities and platforms, cyber training and testing of strategic platforms’ resilience. A fundamental tool for training and simulation, Cyber Range is also a solution for testing the cyber resilience of strategic platforms. The system was selected among others by the Qatar Computing Research Institute for training of operators and assessment of resilience to cyber-attacks. Cyber Range platform has a particular military application, because practical experience is indispensable in the case of operations launched in cyberspace against enemy targets. Moreover, the project enables combination of cyber strategy with the classic military doctrine.

Furthermore, the collaboration is active in the space sector. Poland has been using data from COSMO-SkyMed Earth observation program – owned by Italian Space Agency and Italian Ministry of Defence and developed by Leonardo and its joint ventures Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio – for several years. Equipped with state-of-the art synthetic aperture radar (SAR), COSMO-SkyMed constellation is the nucleus of the Polish satellite reconnaissance system. Thanks to the P-DUGS (Polish – Defense User Ground Segment) receiving station built in Białobrzegi near Warsaw, and the collaboration with the Italian Defense User Ground Segment, Poland can access COSMO-SkyMed first and second generation data for defence and security purposes.

Leonardo and its joint ventures are also active in Poland in military (SICRAL) and commercial satellite communications and in TV broadcasting services.

Poland is in the process of strategic redesign of its military assets, definitely leaving behind its Warsaw pact origin ones to achieve the highest NATO / EU standards. For Leonardo – one of the major European defense players with a strongest industrial footprint in Poland – the current scenario sounds really favorable to reinforce Polish industrial base in the next years.

Leonardo perfectly understands the requirements of the Polish side when it comes to the offset offer, technology transfer and know-how. Therefore, in the modernization programs for the Polish Armed Forces, Leonardo offers a number of benefits and active cooperation with Polish industry and scientific and research institutions. The good example of this approach is Leonardo’s strong value proposition that envisage the further investments in PZL-Świdnik, including the launch of even two production lines: the new Polish multirole helicopters and combat ones.

The PZL-Świdnik plant itself is an important center of excellence in the production of aerostructures for most of the Leonardo helicopters, which are delivered to many markets on all continents. Leonardo is to further strengthen the role of PZL-Świdnik as an OEM on the domestic and global helicopter market. PZL-Świdnik has a rich, 70-year tradition in the design, development and production of helicopters, keeping Poland as one of the few countries in the world with full capabilities in helicopter design, production and support. This heritage is a commitment to shape strategic partnership with Polish Ministry of Defence.