Leonardo’s AW609 tiltrotor programme has completed its first ship trial with the support of the Italian Navy. The conforming prototype AC4 was used to perform a series of demonstration trials flying from the Maristaer Grottaglie Naval Base near Taranto in southern Italy to the Italian fleet flagship, the aircraft carrier ITS Cavour, operating around 20nm offshore. The demonstrations included straight-in and lateral approaches, stable deck landing and take-off capabilities, including vertical takeoff and lateral exits.
Since the conclusion of the demonstration flights in mid-April, Leonardo engineers have been studying the flight data for possible follow-up trials aimed at refining approaches and driving platform enhancement for embarked operations.
Gian Piero Cutillo, Managing Director of Leonardo Helicopters, added: “The success of these trials set a major capability demonstration milestone to show the unique advantages of tiltrotors, and particularly that of the AW609, through a combination of high performance and versatility, which remains unmatched in the vertical flight sector. This experience provides an important opportunity to appreciate benefits that can truly revolutionise a range of missions or even open new operational possibilities. We thank all of our partners in this demonstration and for the studies undertaken, we look forward to moving to the next stages of evaluation.”
Meanwhile, the programme continues in its quest for civil certification with the flight test programme logging in excess of 1,900 flight hours.
Photo: Leonardo
