Leonardo prepares for Proteus RWUAS flight-testing

Leonardo's full-scale technology demonstrator for the Royal Navy's Proteus ASW requirement, displayed in Farnborough, UK, in May 2025. (Richard Scott/NAVYPIX)

Leonardo UK is completing the build of a prototype 3 tonne craft for what the Royal Navy (RN) called a Rotary Wing Uncrewed Air System (RWUAS) requirement at its Yeovil plant ahead of starting flight tests later in 2025.

Nigel Colman, managing director of Leonardo Helicopters UK, said the Proteus Technology Demonstrator Programme (TDP) – focused on an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission set – was pivotal to the realisation of the UK RN's Maritime Aviation Transformation Strategy (MATX). “This is about providing a mass that we can't deliver through crewed aviation at a significantly reduced cost, with a significantly reduced workforce requirement around it,” he told Janes at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2025 exhibition held in London from 9 to 12 September.

The Proteus TDP is being delivered under a four-year, GBP60 million (USD82 million) RWUAS Phase 3a contract awarded to Leonardo by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) in June 2022. Sponsored through the RN's ASW Spearhead initiative, Proteus has been designed from the outset to generate evidence that a large autonomous and modular unmanned aircraft system (UAS) can deliver or contribute to the delivery of military maritime effects with fewer people and at lower cost.

According to Colman, the vast majority of Leonardo's effort in Phase 3a has gone into developing autonomous mission capability. “I think the biggest misunderstanding about this capability is that it's a remotely piloted air system,” he said. “It's not. There is no pilot or operator sat in a cabin somewhere moving a joystick round and flying it. This is on a road map to being fully autonomous.