Following the June 2019 announcement that they would collaborate on the development of a new mission surveillance aircraft (MSA) concept, Leonardo (Pavilion P8) and Diamond Aircraft Industries (Static S5) have revealed that the Gabbiano Ultra-Light TS-80 radar will be a new option for the special mission configuration.
When the collaboration for the Diamond DA62 MSA concept was unveiled, Leonardo’s Gabbiano Ultra-Light TS-20 was the radar selection for the aircraft, but the two companies have used the Dubai Airshow to announce the expansion of the offering to also include the longer-range TS-80 version.
The Ultra-Light radar family was developed at Leonardo’s Nerviano site in Milan, and integration work for the DA62 MSA will take place at the company’s Torino-Caselle facility, where it will be incorporated into the Airborne Tactical Observation and Surveillance (ATOS) Lite mission system. Further work will subsequently take place at Diamond Aircraft’s site in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where ATOS and the radar will be installed on the aircraft ahead of a series of anticipated flight campaigns.
“The decision to integrate the Ultra-Light TS-80 was taken due to an analysis of the market and discussions with several potential customers, which highlighted a market niche existing for long-range surveillance from a platform such as this,” Fabrizio Boggiani, senior vice president of airborne sensors and mission systems at Leonardo Electronics, told AIN. “For many customers, the Ultra-Light TS-20 variant will fulfil all of their requirements, but there are some mission types, such as wide-area surveillance, where the extra power output by the TS-80 is of benefit.”
The Gabbiano Ultra-Light TS-80 variant is also being integrated into Leonardo’s ATR 72 for the Italian Guardia di Finanza and ATR 42 for the Italian Guardia Costiera, while the family of radars has been selected by 14 international customers to date.