Leonardo and ENAV: agreement to define innovative solutions for a more efficient use of helicopters in civil airspace, in the name of digitization, sustainability and safety
To modernize and make the use of helicopters and the use of airspace safer, more efficient and sustainable by exploiting the most advanced technologies dedicated to navigation. This is one of the objectives of the Letter of Intent (LoI), signed by Leonardo and ENAV, which launches a collaboration aimed at offering helicopter operators products and services in the field of advanced instrumental navigation, helping to renew the connected infrastructures as well. A commitment, therefore, to the strengthening of a fundamental resource for the country.
This is a collaboration in the name of innovation and which, through the Letter of Intent, combines Leonardo's industrial capabilities in the design, industrialization, supply and support of modern and performing helicopters and ENAV's expertise in development and management. of the airspace in Italy and abroad.
The agreement will allow the two partners to define and provide integrated solutions of absolute excellence, to private and institutional operators in Italy and abroad, giving life to a unique initiative today at an international level, also contributing to the country's objectives in terms sustainability, digitalization and security of Italian critical infrastructures, of which both partners are key stakeholders.
Currently, in fact, the infrastructures serving air navigation, in particular flight procedures and the definition of airspace, are designed and built to mainly support the operations of fixed-wing aircraft, limiting the potential and versatility in
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displacement offered by the rotary wing. Helicopters, due to their intrinsic characteristics, have great flexibility and a greater degree of freedom of maneuver represented, among other things, by the ability to take-off and landing vertically and by stationary flight.
The high certification standards of Leonardo's helicopters, with their advanced systems and equipment, already make it possible to develop and use flight procedures that comply with the modern requirements of the so-called Performance Based Navigation ("PBN") to support the various phases of flight and ENAV has been at the forefront, for years, in the design of PBN procedures on both fixed and rotary wings.
PBN flight procedures, implemented through advanced satellite navigation, contribute significantly to optimizing the use of airspace. In fact, they guarantee an increase in the safety of flight operations thanks to the higher precision in navigation and in the approach and landing procedures, especially essential in complex weather conditions, alongside or overcoming the more traditional systems based on ground stations (the so-called " radio assistance ").
PBN procedures also make it possible to reduce polluting emissions and noise impact thanks to dedicated routes and greater efficiency. Passenger transport, helicopter rescue, civil protection, surveillance and fire fighting operations in all weather conditions, day and night, are among the main application areas that can take advantage of this technological advancement. Its implementation and dissemination produces significant benefits for flight safety, environmental protection, flexibility, speed and effectiveness of interventions to support the population, greater efficiency of transport services.
Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo, declared: "With this initiative we confirm our commitment to contribute to the growth and competitiveness of the country by strengthening a critical infrastructure, such as our skies and the systems and rules that define it. use. We do this by introducing innovations, digitization and procedures that will bring us ever closer to future scenarios of 'urban air mobility' thanks to continuous innovation in the field of navigation, which integrates our skills in helicopters and related technologies that increase flight safety, in air traffic control systems and space technologies. An integrated solution that will produce benefits for mobility, safety, environmental protection and services to people. Italy, with its industrial and technological excellence, confirms its contribution to the path undertaken by Europe in this sector with projects such as SESAR and can increasingly be a point of reference at an international level ".
Paolo Simioni, CEO of ENAV, said: `` We are particularly proud of this agreement which demonstrates the aeronautics industry's ability to create a system and create synergies in order to guarantee the growth of the sector, helping to modernize systems to make the ever more efficient and safer flight. Airspace is a fundamental infrastructure for Italian and international economic growth. For this reason we are investing in technological innovations that are also sustainable from an environmental point of view. Leonardo and ENAV are two strategic realities for the technological and infrastructural development of the sector and this partnership is a further confirmation of excellence
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technology and the quality of ENAV's people. I am sure that this collaboration will give both of us a competitive advantage in foreign markets. ''