Starting on July 6, the Italian-headquartered defense and security multinational company, Leonardo launches its first virtual exhibition, which aims to maintain the company's marketing focus of its products and platforms in spite of the physical distance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event, based on a dedicated online platform and named "Leonardo Naval Defense for the Middle East. A virtual experience", comes as the company's first commercial-dedicated activity since the worldwide lockdown, when Leonardo — without stopping its production — promptly implemented action to ensure the health and safety of its employees and undertook a series of solidarity initiatives to support the efforts made by governments and emergency responders against the pandemic emergency. In the last 50 years, more than 40 marine organizations around the world have chosen Leonardo technology to equip more than 100 naval vessels. Leonardo's solutions include new generation Combat Systems, advanced naval guns and avionics, underwater technologies and multipurpose naval helicopters. The virtual stand will provide a digital version of Leonardo's portfolio of capabilities for naval defense featuring high-definition 3D models and videos, overcoming physical and temporal limits thanks to new opportunities offered by the digitalization. An interactive display of a ship's bridge will present Leonardo's ‘naval cockpit', where visitors will be able to learn about the capabilities of a fully-integrated naval operations and combat system, including Leonardo's small, medium and large-caliber naval guns (from 12.7 to 127mm), DART guided ammunition, protecting against missiles and highly-maneuverable targets, and the Vulcano family, a 76mm and 127mm precision ammunition that can accurately hit targets as far as 100 kilometers away. Underwater technologies featured include the ULISSES (Ultra-LIght SonicS Enhanced System) integrated acoustic sensor system which incorporates ‘multistatic' functionality, designed to ‘listen' for hostile submarines and determine their locations, and the Black Scorpion mini torpedo (only 5"), designed to support the contact classification process with minimum cost and maximum flexibility and effectiveness. Leonardo boasts a leadership role in the naval helicopters sector, thanks to the widest and most modern range of products available on the market today; including, the AW101 three–engine medium-heavy helicopter, the medium twin-engine NH90 NFH (under the NHI consortium) and the intermediate twin-engine AW159, without considering other Leonardo platforms utilized for dual-use and capable of operating at sea and, in some cases, in embarked mode, in particular for surveillance and search and rescue tasks. Leonardo is the only European company, which can provide complete unmanned solutions for civil and military customers. The virtual exhibition will feature the readily exportable Falco Xplorer, Leonardo's largest ever unmanned platform which provides persistent, multi-sensor strategic surveillance with over 24 hours' endurance, relaying information in real time via secure satellite connection to C4I centers and the Rotary Unmanned Air System (R-UAS) AWHERO, Leonardo's state of the art solution for land and naval operations including maritime and border surveillance, pipeline and power-line monitoring, supporting of search and rescue missions, thanks to its ability to take-off and landing from small platforms and naval deck. The Gabbiano UltraLight (UL) radar, integrated onto the AWHERO, is compact and lightweight, making it ideally suited to such ‘mini'-class unmanned vehicles as well as the smallest manned fixed and rotary-winged aircraft. The SAGE digital ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) sensor, already in service with the South Korean Navy, Brazilian Navy and Indonesian Air Force, with a built-in 360° radar-warning-receiver capability, is able to detect, identify and geo-locate Radio Frequency (RF) signals alerting operators to potential threats. In the Middle East, where more than 30 vessels are equipped with Leonardo naval systems and where the company is already involved in Navy's modernization programs and in partnerships in the naval sector, Leonardo is also providing refit and upgrade solutions for existing fleets, with new weapon control systems, training services and logistics. — SG
