Piaggio’s HammerHead UAS Takes Flight

Photo Courtesy of AUVSI

By Ashley Addington



Piaggio’s P.1HH HammerHead unmanned aircraft, first unveiled at the Paris Air Show this year, had its first full test flight on 14 Nov. from an Italian air force base, the company announced at the Dubai Air Show.



Operational readiness of the system is scheduled to be achieved by the end of 2014.



The HammerHead flew over the Mediterranean Sea for about 12 minutes with its landing gear down. It was piloted from a remote station on the ground where its navigation capability for both autonomous and manual settings were tested. The P.1HH reached an altitude of 2,000 feet and a speed of 170 knots 12 miles from base. 



"The success of the first flight test of the P.1HH demo brings us closer to providing the first European-developed state of the art MALE UAS, capable of performing at the highest technological level aerial, land, coastal, maritime, offshore, COMINT/ELINT and electronic warfare missions," Alberto Galassi, Piaggio Aero CEO, said in a press release. 



The system had a shorter initial flight in August, where it took off, performed a short level flight and landed again.