December marked a significant advance in autonomous systems with the successful demonstration of the Sovereign Hunter capability, the UK’s first full-scale trial of decentralised collaborative platform swarming. Delivered by Leonardo with SMEs Faculty AI, Applied AGI and Volander, the programme moved from concept to demonstration in just six months. The trial showed how multiple drones equipped with different sensors can work together autonomously to deliver mission effects, proving the value of rapid collaboration with SMEs and reinforcing the UK’s ambition for sovereign capability in future air operations.
Elsewhere, we took the next step towards the future of advanced autonomy with the Royal Navy’s Proteus Technology Demonstrator completing ground trials. Designed and built in Yeovil. the Home of British Helicopters, Proteus represents a leap forward in autonomous vertical take-off and landing capability, supporting missions such as anti-submarine warfare, logistics and surveillance as part of a £60 million programme.
Another milestone was achieved this month in the UK’s integrated air sensing capability through cloud-based sensor fusion. Working alongside Dstl, Igence Radar, Voyant and leading universities, Leonardo helped demonstrate how airborne systems can link with ground stations to create a near real-time picture of the air and maritime environment. Known as Project SIREN, this breakthrough supports the UK’s emerging Digital Targeting Web and highlights the benefits of government, industry and academia collaborating to accelerate innovation for future multi-platform sensing.
As the year drew to a close, we also celebrated two individual awards. Dr Chineye Princess Udeze won the Institute for Systems Engineering’s ‘Rising Star Award’ for her contributions to Model Based Systems Engineering, driving MBSE practices across Leonardo’s major programmes while also championing diversity through Leonardo’s Equalise and Ethnicity Inclusion networks. Additionally, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Juliette Goddard, won the ‘Karen Burt Memorial Award’ for the best newly-qualified chartered engineer at the Women’s Engineering Society’s annual awards.
Our early careers talent shone at the Electronics Weekly BrightSparks Awards, where four apprentices and engineers were recognised among the UK’s brightest young innovators. Winners included Oliver Tatlow and Peter Metcalfe from Luton, Harry Hale from Basildon and Katherine Taberer from Bristol. Earlier this year, Peter helped lead the Micromouse competition, challenging teams to design and programme robot mice to navigate a complex maze.
Sustainability remained a priority as Leonardo planted 4,000 trees during two mass planting events in Berkshire and Yeovil, with a further 4,000 trees funded for Community Forests. These initiatives, delivered in partnership with Carma and supported by veterans and suppliers, are part of our contributions to our goal of achieving net zero for operations by 2030.