In an effort to address the future of the aviation sector and be ready to produce the most appropriate technology solutions, Leonardo has established the Future Flight Leonardo Innovation NetworK (F2LINK). It involves more than 100 professors from 25 universities, over 20 projects and creating dedicated physical hubs in Turin and Pomigliano to study new solutions.
We believe that military and civilian aircraft of the future will be true flying platforms of command and control, at the head of a task force of nodes that are completely connected and integrated. Working within a system within a system, the pilot and his aircraft will be at the heart of a complex scenario, receiving and managing input from ground control, from on-board systems and from a myriad of other assets, both manned and uncrewed – all in real time.
F2LINK aims to project Leonardo towards the future by creating and nurturing a network of partners and knowledge that promotes research into the most advanced enabling technologies for future generations of aircraft, such as artificial intelligence, autonomy, electrification, augmented reality, advanced materials and digitalisation. The hope is that this strategy will accelerate the innovation processes and the long-term diversification of the business, pooling the skills of research bodies, institutions, universities, SMEs, large companies, spin-offs, and national and international start-ups.
“Courageous and patient leadership is needed, where a will to change is intertwined with the concepts of time and risk. Today we want to take our first step on this virtuous path and be the forerunner,” explained Marco Zoff, Managing Director of Leonardo’s Aircraft Division, during the recent ‘Solvers Wanted’ technology event. “Ours is a vision of innovation that stands the test of time; this doesn’t merely come from investment, but from an ecosystem where everyone does their part to achieve excellence. This involves synergy between public and private where universities are involved, first and foremost the Politecnico, with our customers’ needs always being the starting point. The world of industry must inevitably adapt to a constantly changing world, where artificial intelligence has acted as a watershed to disrupt established methods and practices.”
Other panelists at the event were Guido Saracco, Rector of the Politecnico di Torino; Alfonso Fuggetta, Professor at the Politecnico di Milano and CEO and Scientific Director of CEFRIEL; Antonio Lanzotti, Professor at Università Federico II; Cristiano Montrucchio, Leonardo’s Senior Vice President of Engineering, Aircraft Division; and Colonel Filippo Nannelli, Commander of the 61st Squadron in Lecce-Galatina, home of the Italian Air Force's international flight school.
Commander Nanneli spoke directly of his experiences with the Armed Forces and the training process of Italian and international military pilots. This cutting-edge experience is thanks in part to the integration of real and virtual flight, made possible by new generation trainer aircraft, such as the T-346, perfectly connected and integrated with the ground segment and simulation systems at the International Flight Training School (IFTS), developed by the Italian Air Force and Leonardo.
The objective is to lay out a “technological trajectory” that responds to the needs for information, decision-making, superiority and sustainability of the aviation of the future and to create value throughout the entire ecosystem, channeling research and innovation towards the technological trends that constitute the long-term targets of the company and its supply chain. All of this is in line with the Be Tomorrow - Leonardo 2030 strategic plan which aims to contribute to sustainable progress, the security of the country, and a more hospitable future.
Pierpaolo Gambini, Senior Vice President Innovation & Intellectual Property at Leonardo, said: “Open innovation is the essential support for internal development, using the ecosystem’s skills and solutions. To be effective, there must be a series of tools that identify the best partner and the best supplier every single time. This combination only works if the whole system is integrated and interacts on a daily basis. Initiatives like this one strengthen partnerships with universities, sharing the skills we’ll need in the next few years in a transparent way.”
“In order to face the extraordinary technological evolution that we’re currently witnessing, and to transform the challenge posed by the aircraft of tomorrow into opportunity, we need to implement a systematic approach that involves all our resources, allowing us to build a vision of the future and define a path to reach it,” observed Salvatore Grimaldi, Head of Innovation Management, in Leonardo’s Aircraft Division. “F2LINK aims to be just that: a structured opportunity to generate dialogue that creates value within the ecosystem, leading research and innovation towards technological trends that align with the company’s long-term objectives,” he added.
“Artificial intelligence is not a means but an environment and a space that we must enter,” underlined Luciano Violante, President of Fondazione Leonardo Civiltà delle Macchine, at the end of the talks. “We will increasingly live in a balance between material and immaterial – or digital – worlds, and we must get used to this balance in order to be able to govern processes. We’re moving from industrial production to digital production, and where there is a change in system, there is a disintermediation of factors. We must therefore think about their reintermediation. This is true for production as well as democracy.”