Leonardo and the U.K. Ministry of Defense are set to partner for the Rotary Wing Unmanned Air System (RWUAS) Capability Concept Demonstrator, U.K. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said Feb. 27. This is a two-year, $8.4 million research and development initiative to develop military drone capabilities.

Fallon announced a three-member Defence Innovation Advisory Panel at the University of Oxford, wher he announced the helicopter drone project. There is an $847 million innovation fund backing the innovation initiative, but RWUAS is to be jointly funded.

This will not be Leonardo’s first time developing unmanned, rotary capabilities. The manufacturer’s SW-4 Solo and SD150 Hero are optionally piloted and unmanned, respectively. havin taken its first flight last December, the Solo is based on the SW-4 light single-engine helicopter, built for civil and military multirole operations. The Hero has an interoperable ground control station (GCS) with a human machine interface. The station is also compatible with the Solo. It, too, has multirole capabilities for both military and civil applications.