In May, the Royal Navy Wildcat got its teeth as, alongside Thales, we announced the first successful firings of the ‘Martlet’ Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) from an AW159. The test was conducted as part of the UK MoD’s Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon programme, representing a major milestone in its development and allowing the capability to enter service with the Royal Navy.
This wasn’t the only news to come out of Yeovil in May, as Leonardo announced its new UK Managing Director of Helicopters, Nick Whitney. Nick took up his senior leadership role having started in the sector as an apprentice, following in our proud tradition of upwards pathways stemming from early career positions.
Other new capability announcements in May included the news that the multi-role Osprey radar was spreading its wings with new missions, such as civil protection, environmental monitoring, and search and rescue. The UK Maritime Coastguard Agency revealed that they would be upgrading to the latest Osprey radar to support SAR, border protection, fishery and pollution missions. Later in the month, Boeing announced its selection of Leonardo to deliver an integrated Defensive Aids System (DAS) for the UK’s new fleet of Wedgetail aircraft.
As the national lockdown persisted, we highlighted the importance of health and wellbeing while people remained in isolation. This included providing guidance to our colleagues, many of whom were now working from home full-time, with a series of wellbeing articles around subjects like physical and mental health. We also took time speaking to colleagues about what they were getting up to outside of work during the shutdown, such as Ross Pringle, a Design Engineering Graduate Apprentice and STEM ambassador at our Edinburgh site. He told us about his volunteering role, training Search and Rescue Dogs for local Mountain Rescue teams. Everyone in the business was keen to show their support for healthcare heroes and keyworkers (including those across Leonardo), producing a video of our Clap For Carers efforts from around the country as we joined neighbours and friends in thanking those keeping us safe. Later in the month, we were honoured to be recognised with a special mention for our work throughout the pandemic by the British Chamber of Commerce for Italy during their Business Excellence Awards.