Helicopter firm explores benefits of 5G technology
HELICOPTER manufacturer Leonardo, which has a Westcountry base, has linked with tech giant O2 to investigate innovative ways to use private 5G technology for the defence and security industry.
Leonardo’s Innovation and Technology Incubator Centre has gone into partnership with O2 (Telefónica UK), to look at proposed uses of secure, high-bandwidth mobile data including facilitating next-generation “future factory” manufacturing capabilities and providing high speed and secure information services.
Both of these will be needed to deliver high-pace programmes such as Tempest, which is seeing the UK, Italy and Sweden collaborating to develop future combat air capabilities.
The partnership is the first initiative to be announced by Leonardo’s newly established Innovation and Technology Incubator Centre that supports forward-looking innovation at Leonardo’s sites across the UK, including Yeovil, where it employs 3,000 people.
O2 will provide a secure 5G private network and a range of Industry 4.0 applications in order to evaluate how they could be used in the digital transformation of business and the end-toend manufacturing process.
Founded with the mission of “bringing ideas to reality”, Leonardo’s Innovation and Technology Incubator Centre is located in Edinburgh and offers those with alternative business ideas and disruptive technology an opportunity to partner with one of Britain’s biggest technology and engineering firms and one of the principal suppliers of equipment to the UK Ministry of Defence.
Leonardo and O2 said there is huge potential for 5G technology which can meet the high security standards demanded by the defence sector and provide security assurance within companies’ digital infrastructure.
Norman Bone, chair and managing director of Leonardo UK, said: “5G will be an important tool for the UK’s aerospace, defence and security industry as we look to stay competitive in the global market and continue to export products and services from the UK.
“This partnership with O2 will inform the roll-out of this technology within Leonardo and study its wider potential across our industry and customer base.”
One such initiative will trial the potential for wirelessly delivering mission, support and maintenance data updates to aircraft, such as the Leonardo AW159 Wildcat helicopter.
This could speed up turnaround times between missions and improve platform reliability whilst meeting the stringent security requirements necessary for front line military systems.
Another joint project will investigate how Leonardo’s manufacturing facilities could use 5G-enabled technology to support “future factory” techniques such as digital manufacturing and intelligent infrastructure.
By using a private, highly-secure 5G network, Leonardo can adopt gamechanging Industry 4.0 approaches.
This will be critical in delivering programmes such as Tempest, the next-generation combat air system, which is being designed to be manufactured significantly faster and at lower cost than previous generation combat aircraft. As well as understanding the possibilities of 5G in the delivery of Leonardo’s manufacturing and service provision, the project will also consider the potential benefits Leonardo could offer to its own customers by delivering 5G private networks as a capability.
IN more news of tough celebrity gigs, Giles Coren and Monica Galetti are back to visit stunning hotels around the world. Surely they can’t believe their luck as they journey to various incredible, unaffordable places in far reaching destinations.
They have to roll their sleeves up, joining the staff behind the scenes, but let’s not pretend it’s really that hard going for them.
This time they are at Jade Mountain, an entirely hand-built hotel in St Lucia that is carved into the cliff top.
From afar it looks slightly like a multi-storey car park wedged into the cliff, but up close, it’s an architectural wonder, with eight levels, 150ft above sea level, nestled in 600 acres of forest. “It’s like something from Tarzan,” says Giles.
Each of the 29 bedrooms has no outer wall, so is open to the ocean and mountain view, and each has its own private infinity pool and personal butler.
“It’s like someone’s painted scenery across my hotel room,” says Monica.
While there, Giles finds that room service is tougher than it seems, and Monica dives for Lionfish, which they both serve to guests visiting especially to have their wedding on the beach. Giles also joins the pool cleaner on a vertigo-inducing job, while Monica reminisces about her childhood while eating the pulp of cacao pods.
With rooms costing up to £2,700 a night, most of us mere mortals will never visit, but for a gawp at how the other half live, this is priceless.