The maiden flight of the prototype 001 of the Piaggio Aerospace P.1HH HammerHead, has taken place after an extensive flight campaign carried out with the P.1HH demo technology demonstrator, at the Italian Air Force base at Trapani-Birgi.
The prototype flew with the new Finmeccanica – Selex ES vehicle control and management system for the first time and was remotely operated from the ground control station (GCS), through datalink and communications systems, to ensure safe operations during all flight activities.
The P.1HH HammerHead mission management system is based on the Finmeccanica – Selex ES SkyISTAR platform-agnostic innovative solution, which is ideally suited for patrol and ISR missions.
The system is capable of responding to diverse threats ranging from terrorist attacks to illegal immigration, protection of exclusive economic zones, infrastructures and critical sites.
According to Selex, the built-in sensor fusion, data management and exploitation features of skyISTAR enable highly effective border control, wide area surveillance, targeted surveillance, environmental and disaster-control missions.
