Draken – Leonardo enter into a milestone agreement

Draken – Leonardo enter into a milestone agreement:

20 November 2019: The multi-year, performance-based logistics contract has the following salient features

-Draken International to ensure a high availability rate for the Grifo-L radars installed on Draken's fleet of 24 L-159E fighter jets used to train US Air Force pilots are available whenever they are needed

-The contract is designed to sustain Draken's flying-by-the-hour business model, which requires the Grifo-L radars to be readily available

-To meet this need, Leonardo has developed a tailored, high-performance model which is able to support the 'wartime rate' of flying which is required.

-Leonardo tested the new model under a trial basis with Draken in 2018 where it proved successful.

-The contract paves the way for future activities relating to other Leonardo products and services in high-usage domains like Adversary Air

Leonardo's ability to quickly implement a bespoke business model, whereby robust support is delivered via a repair-and-return cycle backed by the wider Leonardo business was the key to this contract.

Leonardo's Grifo family of radar systems is in service with six international Air Forces as well as Draken, a private operator. In total, more than 450 Grifo radars have been sold, notching up more than 150,000 flight hours between them. The latest addition to the Grifo family is the Grifo-346 radar, which features optimised performance and has been tailored for the Leonardo M-346FA (Fighter Attack) aircraft.