Leonardo Helicopters has performed the first flight of the Proteus autonomous rotorcraft technology demonstrator it has developed for the UK Royal Navy (RN).
Taking place at Predannack airfield in Cornwall in the far southwest of England, the maiden sortie took place over the weekend of the 10-11 January, with a second flight following towards the middle of this week.
During the flights, the Proteus hovered and manoeuvred at around 50ft, with the tests lasting for around 12min. They included a “short test routine” during which the aircraft flew independently of any control inputs from the ground.
Ground runs of the Proteus, derived from the AW09 civil helicopter, were conducted late last year at Leonardo Helicopters’ Yeovil plant, which has led the development of the uncrewed platform under a £60 million ($80 million) contract.
The RN intends to evaluate the potential of the autonomous helicopter in several roles, including anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and cargo logistics, as part of a pivot towards uncrewed operations through its Maritime Aviation Transformation strategy.
Predannack serves as the satellite airfield for helicopters based at nearby RNAS Culdrose, the home to the navy’s fleet of ASW-roled AW101 Merlin HM2s.
A 2,850kg (6,280lb) maximum take-off weight helicopter, the AW09 is powered by a single Safran Helicopter Engines Arriel 2K turboshaft.
