Sourced: Defence News
By Tom Kington
Italy is edging closer to acquiring a new surveillance drone based on a business aircraft design. The UAV will offer 24-hour endurance and have a top speed of 330 knots.
Italy’s Ministry of Defence last month sent an acquisition request to Parliament’s defense commission for 20 Piaggio Aerospace P.2HH drones, costing a total of €766 million (U.S. $951 million).
The platform, dubbed the HammerHead, is an unmanned variant of the Piaggio Aerospace P180 business aircraft, which flies with two pusher propellers.
The request is the latest episode in the drawn-out development phase of the medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV, which has been punctuated by a test crash and the planned sale of Piaggio Aerospace’s civil activity to a Chinese-backed fund.
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