Leonardo returns to the Farnborough International Airshow, one of the world's leading events for the aerospace and defence industry, focusing on its multi-domain strategy and on one range of technologies ranging from next-generation fighters to autonomous helicopters, from anti-drone systems to cybersecurity, and even space infrastructure. The group's goal is strengthen its positioning among the world's leading security operators, in a geopolitical scenario in which the ability to connect platforms, sensors and information is becoming as important as the availability of individual vehicles.
Leonardo's presence at the British show is also part of its industrial growth strategy, as the company employs nearly 10 people in the UK and has a well-established production chain.
Production, innovation and alliances at the heart of the strategy
The new international context requires defense companies to have faster response times, greater resilience of supply chains, and increasing investments in technologies and skills. Leonardo therefore aims to expand production capacity and to enhance industrial collaborations, considered fundamental to reaching the size necessary to support increasingly complex programmes.
“We are living in a phase of profound transformation of the international scenario, which requires an increasingly solid, innovative and timely industrial response" – declared the CEO and General Manager Lorenzo Mariani – "Strengthening production capacity, making supply chains more resilient, accelerating the development of new technologies, and investing in skills are essential to supporting the sector's growth and responding to new security needs." "Leonardo is addressing this challenge conjugating Strengthening its industrial base through ever-increasing international cooperation. Innovation, speed of execution, and strategic alliances are key factors in developing the capabilities required by the current scenario and contributing to global security,” Mariani added.
From the Eurofighter to autonomous helicopters
Il air domain It represents one of the main pillars of the offer presented at Farnborough. The portfolio includes systems already operational and programs destined to define the next generation of air defense.
Platforms include theEurofighter Typhoon and Global Combat Air Program, the Gcap, developed to build a next-generation air combat systemAlongside the fighters, there will be space for the M-346 Block 20 and M-345 trainers, the AW149 multirole helicopter and Proteus, a fully autonomous helicopter demonstrator. Leonardo will also present the activities started with Turkish society Baykur through the LBA Systems joint venture, dedicated to the development of unmanned solutions. The group is also working on Collaborative Combat Aircraft, designed to operate alongside manned platforms.
The prospect is no longer that of a simple sum of aircraft, but of a ecosystem where piloted and autonomous vehicles can communicate, share information, and intervene in a coordinated manner. The offering also includes anti-drone technologies, advanced sensors, and command and control systems designed to manage networked operations and so-called "tactical bubbles," operational areas in which information and response capabilities are integrated in real time.
Leonardo strengthens its industrial presence on land and sea.
In the land sector the group is expanding its scope through the joint venture Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles and the recent one acquisition of IDV. The strategy brings together armored vehicles, artillery, radar, helicopters, communications systems, and command and control platforms. Here too, the goal is for the individual technologies to operate within a single architecture, ensuring interoperability and data sharing.
In the maritime domainLeonardo is instead focusing on combat management systems, new-generation sensors, unmanned vehicles, carrier-based helicopters, naval artillery and guided munitions.
The integration of radars, platforms, and command centers should enable continuous surveillance and greater intervention capacity, especially in scenarios characterized by the simultaneous presence of conventional, cyber, and hybrid threats.
Space and Michelangelo Dome for multi-domain defense
Lo space This is one of the areas where Leonardo focuses its greatest development prospects. The group aims to strengthen European leadership in in-orbit services, space surveillance, and Earth observation, including through new industrial alliances. Strategic projects include: construction of a proprietary constellation of satellites, designed to acquire and distribute information in increasingly shorter timeframes. The infrastructure will use onboard artificial intelligence systems, technologies for processing data in space, and direct communications between satellites.
The planned applications concern both the civil and military sectors, with the possibility of collecting, analyzing and rapidly transmitting information useful for operations. To represent the synthesis of the multi-domain strategy is the Michelangelo Dome, the architecture developed to connect sensors, command and control systems, and effectors within the same operational environment. The system integrates air and missile defense capabilities into a scalable structure, coordinating operations across different domains and improving the speed of response to threats.
In Farnborough, Leonardo is therefore presenting not only a series of products, but a interconnected defense model where data, platforms, and operational capabilities work together. A strategy that aims to transform industrial growth and international collaboration into a competitive advantage in the new global security landscape.
