Leonardo stake in Hensoldt could boost FCAS, Tempest commonalities

ROME – A corporate tie-up between Italy’s Leonardo and Germany’s Hensoldt could make Europe’s two future fighters, the Tempest and the Future Combat Air System, more interoperable, a Leonardo official has claimed.

On Jan. 3 Leonardo concluded a deal to take a 25.1% stake in electronics firm Hensoldt, which will immediately see closer collaboration between the firms on e-scan radar technology being supplied to the Eurofighter.

While Leonardo is design authority on the new radars being built for Kuwaiti, Qatari and Royal Air Force Typhoons, Hensoldt has that role on the radars being supplied for upgrades to Spanish and German jets.

But Hensoldt is also set to take a role on the electronics on board the planned Franco-German FCAS fighter, while Leonardo is working on the UK-led Tempest program.

Questions have been raised about the wisdom of pushing two new fighter programs in Europe rather than pooling resources.

Thanks to the Leonardo-Hensoldt team-up they may at least more interoperable, said Giovanni Soccodato, Leonardo’s Chief Strategic Equity Officer.

“There may be a commonality in technology. The two aircraft must be interoperable to work together within NATO, so having Hensoldt work on FCAS and Leonardo work on Tempest could help,” he told Defense News.

He added, “With Hensoldt having a role on FCAS, Leonardo as a shareholder becomes more central to European defense programs.”

The completion of the deal for Leonardo to take a stake in Hensoldt was followed on Jan. 14 by news that Hensoldt was handing Leonardo a 260 million euro ($295 million) contract to supply components for its Eurofighter radars for Germany and Spain.

Soccodato said that thanks to Leonardo’s new stake in the German firm, “this is less of a contract and more of a partnership.”

He added, “Taking the stake is a strategic move, not a financial investment.”

Prior to taking the stake in Hensoldt, Leonardo units in the UK and Italy were already advising the firm in its work on Eurofighter radar.

“Between us we have the majority of the electronics work on Eurofighter,” he said.

Soccodato added that there would be technology sharing on other programs.

“Hensoldt’s strength in optical technology can help our products, while we have command-and-control technology they don’t have. Our super-fast computing and artificial intelligence capabilities could also now be accessible for Hensoldt,” he said.

Leonardo and Hensoldt are two key manufacturers of Transmit-Receive modules for e-scan radar, he added.

“We are helping build a base for a European defense industrial capability,” he said.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利莱昂纳多公司和德国亨索尔特公司之间的企业合作，可能会使欧洲未来的两款战斗机——“暴风雨”和“未来作战空中系统”——更具互操作性，莱昂纳多公司的一位官员声称。

1 月 3 日，莱昂纳多公司达成协议，收购电子公司亨索尔特 25.1% 的股份，这将立即促成两家公司在为欧洲战斗机提供的电子扫描雷达技术方面开展更紧密的合作。

莱昂纳多公司是为科威特、卡塔尔和英国皇家空军台风战斗机建造的新型雷达的设计权威，而亨索尔特公司则是为西班牙和德国喷气式飞机升级提供的雷达的设计权威。

但亨索尔特也将参与计划中的法德联合研制的FCAS战斗机的电子设备项目，而莱昂纳多公司则在参与英国主导的“暴风雨”战斗机项目。

有人质疑，与其在欧洲推行两项新的战斗机计划，不如整合资源，这种做法是否明智。

莱昂纳多首席战略公平官乔瓦尼·索科达托表示，得益于莱昂纳多与亨索尔特的合作，它们至少可以更好地互操作。

“技术上可能存在共通之处。这两款飞机必须具备互操作性才能在北约内部协同作战，因此让亨索尔特公司负责未来空中作战系统（FCAS）的研发，让莱昂纳多公司负责暴风雨战斗机的研发，可能会有所帮助，”他告诉《防务新闻》。

他补充道：“由于亨索尔特参与了未来空中作战系统（FCAS）项目，莱昂纳多作为股东在欧洲防务项目中变得更加核心。”

1 月 14 日，莱昂纳多收购亨索尔特股份的交易完成之后，亨索尔特向莱昂纳多授予了一份价值 2.6 亿欧元（2.95 亿美元）的合同，为其向德国和西班牙提供的欧洲战斗机雷达供应零部件。

索科达托表示，由于莱昂纳多公司新近入股这家德国公司，“这与其说是一份合同，不如说是一种合作关系。”

他补充说：“入股是一种战略举措，而不是一项财务投资。”

在入股亨索尔特之前，莱昂纳多公司在英国和意大利的部门就已经在为亨索尔特公司研发欧洲战斗机雷达方面提供咨询服务。

他说：“我们俩包揽了欧洲战斗机的大部分电子设备研发工作。”

索科达托补充说，其他项目也会有技术共享。

“亨索尔特在光学技术方面的优势可以帮助我们的产品，而我们拥有他们所不具备的指挥控制技术。我们超高速的计算和人工智能能力现在也可以供亨索尔特使用，”他说。

他还补充说，莱昂纳多和亨索尔特是电子扫描雷达收发模块的两大主要制造商。

他说：“我们正在帮助建立欧洲国防工业能力的基础。”

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。