The Royal Navy’s crewless helicopter, Proteus, is nearing its first flight following a period of ground-based trials at Leonardo’s facility in Yeovil, UK.
The trials included checks on the engines, intricate systems, and rotor blades.
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Proteus, developed by Leonardo under a £60m ($80m) programme, involved designing and manufacturing the Proteus Technology Demonstrator in less than two and a half years.
The latest ‘ground running’ trial was conducted in the presence of senior officers and experts from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Royal Navy’s develop directorate, maritime aviation and carrier strike head captain David Gillett said: “It’s been a huge pleasure to work with Leonardo and across Defence, as one team, to deliver Proteus. It combines cutting-edge technology, the experience of recent conflicts and has enormous potential to shape the Royal Navy’s future hybrid air wing.”
Leonardo designed Proteus to support a range of missions. The helicopter features a payload bay capable of carrying up to one tonne of equipment.
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By GlobalDataIt may be used for airborne surveillance, search and rescue, logistics resupply, weapon delivery, or intelligence gathering.
Initial trials are focusing on anti-submarine warfare tasks. In this context, the Proteus demonstrator is programmed to patrol designated maritime areas using information from allied naval assets and detection networks to identify hostile submarines.
The aircraft deploys sonobuoy listening devices to track acoustic signals from underwater threats and can relay its findings back to mission commanders.
The Royal Navy aims to use autonomous helicopters like Proteus to extend airborne operations over wider areas for longer durations while reducing demands on aircrew.
This development marks an early stage toward deploying autonomous vertical take-off and landing aircraft in this weight class.
The aircraft, similar in size to a conventional helicopter, is considered one of the first full-sized autonomous helicopters in the world.
Leonardo Helicopters UK managing director Nigel Colman said: “Proteus is equipped with cutting-edge onboard software capabilities, carrying a suite of sensors and systems that allow it to sense its environment, make decisions and act accordingly.
“All of this processing is conducted onboard the aircraft, while operating in the most extreme environments, including high sea states and strong winds – just where the Royal Navy needs this kind of capability.”
In September 2025, the UK Royal Navy executed a supply transfer between its warships using a British-manufactured Malloy T-150 quadcopter for the first time, during a 2025 Indo-Pacific mission.
