European defence conglomerate Leonardo is marking 40 years of its presence in the Malaysian market this year. The company is promoting its military fixed and rotary-winged platforms in addition to new naval capabilities for the Asia-Pacific region at the ongoing LIMA. With Leonardo celebrating the 40th anniversary of its presence in Malaysia in 2023, the company’s nationwide footprint has grown to 350 people.
While the Leonardo has its name changed many times during these past 40 years of operations, Malaysia is becoming the Asia-Pacific hub for important aviation activities, including the establishment of a helicopters regional maintenance, training and logistics facility, serving an international fleet of more than 200 platforms in service, with over 60 helicopters delivered in Malaysia in the last 10 years. Leonardo Malaysia, established in Kuala Lumpur, counts 150 Malaysian colleagues, which increases to almost 350, including people employed by its joint ventures companies. Among these, are over 100 highly qualified engineers, specialised technicians, logistic specialists and training instructors, operating their services on Leonardo AW119, AW109, AW139, AW169, AW189, and AW159 helicopters in the ASEAN region. Leonardo has also supplied the Royal Malaysian Navy with naval guns such as the OTO 76/62 SR Super Rapid, light torpedoes and heavy Black Shark torpedoes. The company has provided its RAT31DL and RAT31 SL/E radars for supporting the monitoring of Malaysia’s airspace for both civil and defence applications. Leonardo has also delivered Air Traffic Management solutions for the last 30 years in Malaysia, to clients including national Civil Aviation Authority, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad and the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
At LIMA, the company will display an AW189 helicopter from Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department (Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia), together with an AW109 providing Helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) services in Malaysia.At the ongoing show, Leonardo is showcasing its Vulcano 76 mount gun able to shoot DART guided ammunitions. Some of these technologies are being demonstrated on the Italian Navy’s Multi-purpose Offshore Patrol Vessel (PPA) Francesco Morosini, which is also at LIMA as part of its tour of the Far East. The Morosini vessel, designed for dual-use missions, integrates several latest-generation systems by Leonardo, including the ATHENA MK2, a naval cockpit of new generation with only two operators needed to conduct ship and quick reaction operations, and the new electro-optical DSS-IRST (Distributed Static Staring-InfraRed Search and Tracking System), that protects the ship from multiple threats along coastal areas (Littoral) and on the open sea (Blue Water).
Amongst the company’s most recent successes in the Malaysian defence market was its selection by Royal Malaysian Air Force for supply two new ATR 72MPA/ASW aircraft. Leonardo believes that this platform offers the most comprehensive and effective response to enhance maritime security in the region enabling defence, homeland security and environmental protection missions. The ATR-based special mission aircraft is ideally suited to meet the growing requirements in the APAC region, benefitting from the extended logistics support, already assured to many regional ATR operators.
Leonardo is the aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturer, providing the ATR platform equipped with ATOS (Airborne Tactical Observation and Surveillance) mission system, sensors, communications and ground station. The company is also turn-key system integrator on this platform. The ATR 72MP Leonardo’s ATOS mission system, the operational heart of the aircraft, integrates all of the aircraft’s on-board sensors –, including the Leonardo Seaspray 7300E V2 radar and ULISSES (Ultra-LIght SonicS Enhanced System) –, acquiring information and delivering it to the crew via an optimised human-machine interface. By managing all the on-board sensors and providing an optimised situational awareness picture to the operator, ATOS will reduce crew fatigue, particularly in mundane maritime environments.
Both the Royal Malaysian Navy and Air Force have recently selected the AW139 helicopter, while the civilian AW189 has proven extremely successful in the region for a range of roles including public services and offshore transport. Leonardo is also promoting the AW149 in the region. This multi-role military helicopter, is already in-service internationally, including in South East Asia, and ready to replace ageing battlefield helicopter fleets.
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