Experiments with drones in the field of "Advanced Air Mobility" continue for Leonardo, with the aim of accelerating the introduction of these aircraft into the skies and to contribute, starting from Italy, to the development of innovative services to support citizens. In detail, the company in collaboration with the Municipality of Turin and with D-Flight (a company of the ENAV group, in partnership with Leonardo and Telespazio), has launched a series of tests, authorized by ENAC (National Civil Aviation Authority), for transport with an electric propulsion drone weighing 130 kg of a load of 25 kg.
The project, called "Sumeri: Si Salpa!", took place in Turin and is the first in Italy and among the first in the world to see a remotely piloted system with these characteristics fly in an urban context. It represents a significant step forward towards a new model of air logistics transport and is part of a series of experiments which will allow, in the future, to transport hundreds of kilos on routes of up to 50 km with aircraft control mode beyond the pilot's line of sight (Beyond Visual Line of Site - BVLOS).
“This is an initiative that expresses Leonardo's vision to make cities more functional, sustainable and ecological through new technologies in the unmanned and logistics sector, to be used even in emergency situations such as those of recent months. Artificial intelligence and automation are, together with our systemic capabilities and aeronautical expertise, the main tools that Leonardo makes available to enable, in total safety, new and effective types of air operations", comments Laurent Sissmann, SVP Unmanned Systems of Leonardo.
“A warm thanks goes to the Municipality of Turin, protagonist of many pioneering solutions in this field. We are also particularly grateful to ENAC for its support in this process of technological and business innovation in compliance with the safety and security requirements envisaged by the regulation. Finally, it is with great satisfaction that we see D-Flight grow, welcoming the platform's functionalities into experimentation".
The high load capacity, combined with a high level of automation of the aircraft employed and advanced services for air traffic management are among the factors that will enable the development of innovative logistic services in an urban context, with benefits for citizens for speed in deliveries, costs and, above all, for the reduction of pollution thanks to electric propulsion. “The experience of the Sumeri project has allowed ENAC to implement the innovative methodologies of risk analysis envisaged by the regulation for drone operations, in the specific case of the logistic transport of goods in urban areas which constitutes one of the crucial types of services for the development of urban and advanced air mobility in Italy”, declares Alessio Quaranta, Director General of ENAC.
D-Flight, testing its contribution even on vehicles weighing over 25 kg, is confirmed as one of the first operational U-Space platforms in Europe, thanks to which it will be possible to make traditional aviation and remotely piloted aircraft coexist in the airspace. The progressive introduction of new drone-based services will allow for rapid and sustainable development of an already rapidly growing sector.
