Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Leonardo
- Origin / production countries
- Italy
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Certified basic configuration; Enhanced maritime configuration
- Operators / programme customers
- Test and demonstration programme; operational customer fleet not established
Evidence & current status
Military certification is not equivalent to an operational fleet acceptance. The reviewed sources do not establish a current complete operator list.
AWHero is Leonardo's uncrewed helicopter for maritime and land surveillance. It combines an air vehicle with the company's mission systems and configurable sensors. Public material emphasises ship integration and the ability to carry different combinations of radar, electro-optical equipment and other payloads in two separate bays.
Leonardo announced basic military certification from Italy's airworthiness authority in October 2021. Certification is an important programme milestone, but it does not by itself prove that a naval customer has accepted a complete operational fleet. Later brochures describe enhanced heavy-fuel and mission-system arrangements, so a certified earlier baseline and every subsequent modification should not automatically be treated as one approved configuration.
The available brochure gives a six-hour endurance and separate capacities for the nose and underbelly payload bays. Those figures should not be summed into an unconditional maximum payload carried for the full advertised duration. The record classifies the aircraft as a certified development and demonstration platform unless a specific service acceptance is documented. Roles offered to future customers remain distinct from installations actually demonstrated or purchased.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Uncrewed helicopter | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Automatic vertical take-off and deck landing | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Heavy fuel | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | 200 kg MTOW class | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | Six hours | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Range | 100 km data-link coverage, extendable | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Speed | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Underbelly bay up to 40 kg; nose bay up to 20 kg; combined limits not stated | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | EO/IR, maritime radar and AIS; other modular payload options | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Encrypted redundant data link; standardised ground-station interfaces | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
Documented milestones
Basic military certification announced
Leonardo announced Italian military certification; subsequent modifications require configuration-specific verification.
Read the announcement ↗
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- Leonardo AWHero technical brochure, 2023 edition (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme
- Military certification announcement, 22 October 2021 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme