Leonardo Announces New Aerial Target Drone

By Mike Ball / 18 Jun 2017
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Leonardo M-40 target drone
Leonardo has announced the introduction of its new aerial target drone at the 2017 Paris Air Show. Based on the company’s experience with its Mirach 100/5 target drone, which is used as the standard threat simulator by various international Armed Forces, the new Mirach 40 (M-40) is designed to provide medium-to-high target drone performance.

The M-40 is a remotely-piloted aerial system (RPAS) that supports Armed Forces training by simulating a range of airborne threat targets. Able to convincingly mimic a variety of aircraft and missiles, the target drone can simulate radar, infrared (IR) and visual threats. This allows Armed Forces to ‘shoot down’ the reusable M-40 in realistic scenarios, allowing them to train with and qualify a wide variety of weapon systems. Developed in-house by Leonardo using commercial components, the M-40 is readily exportable around the world.

Responding to the fact that customers worldwide increasingly need to ‘do more with less’, the M-40 builds on Leonardo’s experience with the Mirach 100/5 to offer a majority of the performance of such a model at a significantly reduced cost. The M-40 is suitable for a range of training purposes, from Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) artillery training to the simulation of high-performance aerial threats for Navy and Air Force training. Leonardo will also continue to offer the Mirach 100/5 alongside the M-40 to simulate the highest-performance threats facing modern Air Forces. The M-40 uses the same ground control station as the Mirach 100/5, meaning that pilots need very little training to switch to the new drone and armed forces can operate mixed fleets of M-40 and Mirach 100/5 drones.

Because the new M-40 inherits the flight characteristics of the proven Mirach 100/5, it comes with a versatile range of high-performance features including a low-altitude ‘sea skimming’ capability and the ability to execute high-G maneuvers. The refined aerodynamics of the M-40 also allow it to exceed the speed of many twin-engine systems, despite employing a single commercial, multi-fuel engine. The use of a single engine also reduces maintenance requirements and allows for easier deployment even at very remote training ranges. To ensure that M-40 is easy to store and transport, it is designed to operate without pyrotechnics, even for launch and parachute deployment.

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact