ITALY TO BUY 6 P-180 INSTEAD HAMMERHEAD UAV FROM PIAGGIO

Italy announced it will purchase six new Piaggio Aerospace aircraft to help relaunch the Italian firm, and indicated the government is dropping long-held plans to buy drones from the company, ending the ill-fated story of the Hammerhead UAV. 

The Italian Defence Ministry said it would spend €171 million (U.S. $198 million) to buy six P.180 Avanti Evo turboprop plane as well as a flight simulator and engine maintenance work. 

The aircraft, which add to the ministry’s existing fleet of P.180s, will likely be used for transport, reconnaissance and special missions. defensenews

Italian AF First To Buy HammerHead UAV

The Italian Air Force will be the launch customer of the P.1HH HammerHead UAV. The Italian Air Force will acquire three UAV systems, including six platforms and three ground control stations, by 2016.
The HammerHead is an unmanned version of Piaggio's P180 business jet, equipped with systems supplied by Finmeccanica unit Selex. A prototype flew for the first timeDecember.
The Italian Air Force has been closely involved in the development of the UAV.
defensenews

Thai Air Force selects Piaggio Avanti II for recon role

The Royal Thai Air Force has signed a contract to buy a Piaggio P.180 Avanti II aircraft to fulfill a requirement for a photo reconnaissance aircraft.
The P.180 Avanti II will be customised for territorial multifunctional surveillance, featuring customised photography systems.
janes

Piaggio P.1HH Hammerhead UAV Conducts Successful Test Flight

The successful test flight of the Piaggio Aero P.1HH Hammerhead UAV has been welcomed by the Italian Air Force as it looks to intensify its maritime surveillance operations.
The test flight took place at Sicily’s Trapani air base on Nov. 14, according to Piaggio Aero.
The Hammerhead features two pusher propellers and canards on the nose. It offers a 15.5-meter wing span, maximum takeoff weight of 6,146 kilograms and will fly to 45,000 feet with 16 hours endurance, with the company claiming it can get to a target faster and stay on target longer than rivals.
Hammerhead is expected to reach full operational capability by the en of 2014.
defensenews

Piaggio Reveals Unmanned Avanti

Italian business aircraft manufacturer Piaggio and Selex Electronic Systems are working together to produce an unmanned variant of the P-180 Avanti executive turboprop aircraft.
Named P.1HH Hammerhead, the new variant of the Avanti has been extensively modified for its UAS role. According to Piaggio the new version will be capable of 16 hours of operation carrying a range of payloads including Sigint and Elint packages as well as being able to conduct border and maritime surveillance and electronic warfare. Weapons and other external stores could also be fitted to pylons attached to the forward fuselage. The aircraft has been developed to capture part of the medium altitude, long endurance (MALE) market against aircraft such as the MQ-9 Reaper or BAE Systems Mantis.

Anthony Osborne-aviationweek