Leonardo completes first open-water tests of C-UAS naval protection system

August 14, 2025, by Aida Čučuk

Leonardo DRS, a U.S.-based defense contractor and a subsidiary of the Italian aerospace and defense company Leonardo, has completed the first series of open-water demonstrations of its maritime mission equipment package (MEP), designed for counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C‑UAS) naval fleet protection.

It is understood that the DRS maritime MEP is a scalable C-UAS solution built on the company’s land-based mobile short-range air defense and C-UAS solutions. As informed, it is designed to be mounted on a range of small uncrewed surface vessels (USV), providing remote ship protection at varying distances.

According to Leonardo, the initial demonstrations of the system were conducted under realistic sea conditions, showcasing the MEP’s core integrated capabilities, including the detection, identification, and tracking of a UAS threat as well as counter-surface ship tracking. The package used in the testing reportedly included a suite of DRS sensors and command-and-control technologies, including the BlackLab passive radio frequency (RF) detection system, STAG electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) gimbal with advanced thermal cameras, and a tactical data management system using DRS’s sensor fusion operating system and AI to support fusion and target recognition using RF and optical modalities.

Cari Ossenfort, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Leonardo DRS Naval Electronics business unit, stated: “The U.S. Navy faces the same evolving drone threats as our land forces, and we recognize the urgency of delivering a reliable solution to protect the lives of sailors. By leveraging our proven expertise in mobile ground-based counter-UAS and short-range air defense systems, we have rapidly developed and demonstrated a maritime force protection capability that provides sailors with full-spectrum situational awareness and the tools to detect, track, and defeat threats at the tactical edge.”

In other recent news, Leonardo and Textron Aviation Defense agreed to work together to meet the US Navy’s requirements for its new jet trainer. Furthermore, the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bombardier Defense to explore new opportunities in the maritime multi-mission aircraft (MMA) capability market.

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It is also worth mentioning that in June 2025, Leonardo and Baykar Technologies announced the establishment of a joint venture dedicated to the development of unmanned technologies. The two companies are set to be equal shareholders (50% each) in the new company, named LBA Systems.