Italian defense firm Leonardo has completed the initial phase of flight testing for its latest Falco Xplorer remotely piloted aircraft system.
The Italian drone performed complex functional tests to validate platform maturity and performance.
Leonardo received air traffic, fire prevention, and flight safety assistance from the Air Force’s 37°Stormo wing during the activity at Trapani Birgi military airport in Sicily, 260 miles (420 kilometers) south of the capital Rome.
The company will now prepare for the second phase of the Falco Xplorer’s flight campaign, which would assess and validate its automatic take-off and landing, sensor suites, and satellite communications for beyond-line-of-sight operations, among others.
Once successful, the drone would earn a “fitness to fly” certification according to the NATO standardized agreements on drone system airworthiness requirements.
“Certification will enable the Falco Xplorer to fly over populated areas, significantly expanding its scope and allowing it to operate in support of public safety and civil protection missions,” Leonardo said.
Falco Xplorer
With a 350-kilogram (772-pound) payload, the Falco Xplorer’s capacity is twice that of Leonardo’s Falco Evo, used primarily for tactical intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance missions.
The Xplorer’s multi-sensor strategic surveillance is designed for military and government missions, providing over 24 hours of persistent, all-weather regional surveillance.
The drone’s applications include border and coastal patrol, law enforcement, critical infrastructure security, exclusive economic zone surveillance, and environmental monitoring.
“Made entirely in-house, the baseline suite consists of the company’s LEOSS electro-optical turret, Gabbiano TS-80 UL multimode radar, an automatic identification system for the monitoring of maritime traffic and the SAGE electronic intelligence system,” the company said.