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Leonardo Falco Xplorer

2023 MODERN AIRCRAFT DRONE TECHNOLOGY FUTURE FLIGHT

The Leonardo Falco Xplorer Story

The Falco Xplorer is the third generation of Leonardo's Falco unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) series. Unveiled at the 2019 Paris Air Show, the product (in mock-up form) looks more like General Atomics' Predator line than Falco's original. The Falco Evo follows the original shape with a new, larger size and broader mission set.

Xplorer is an evolution of this thinking, bringing ever-increasing features and performance improvements.

The Xplorer is Leonardo's biggest drone attempt to date.

As shown, the Xplorer has a barrel length of 9 meters, a wingspan of 18.5 meters, and a height of 3.8 meters. Mission equipment and sensors have a payload capacity of 770 lbs and an MTOW of 2,600 lbs. At the rear end of the fuselage section there is a conventional engine that drives a multi-blade propeller unit in a thrust configuration.

This gives the Xplorer a service ceiling of up to 30,000 feet and a mission duration window of about 24 hours -- giving the system good air "legs." Satellite communications (SATCOM) will ensure beyond line-of-sight (BLoS) capability.

Also, the layout of the aircraft is conventional, like a drone. The airframe contains all relevant operating systems, including the engine, optics package and avionics package. The nose has the bulbous appearance common to the Predator series. A simple wheeled tricycle landing gear is used for ground operations, as the Xplorer needs to use the runway for takeoff and landing.

Wing The main aircraft is straight and covered by upturned wingtips. The fin includes a pair of outwardly curved vertical fins.

Airborne systems include multi-function SAR radar, electro-optical (EO) optical towers and a complete SIGnals INtelligence (SIGINT) suite.

The first flight of the Xplorer is scheduled for the end of 2019. The Italian Air Force has been mentioned as a potential military customer, while the Xplorer will also be sold to the civilian industry.

The complete Xplorer kit will include a Ground Control Station (GCS), a Ground Data Terminal (GDT), a Ground Support Section (GSS) and two Falco Xplorer aircraft.