Bangladesh Air-Force Bangladesh buys Leonardo's Falco EVO drone

[Isa Khan]

Google translation:-

The Bangladeshi Air Force bought a Falco EVO UAV ( Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ) system from Leonardo

Bangladesh thus extends its capacity in remotely controlled aircraft limited until now to only one Bramor of the Slovenian C-Astral.

In December 2017, according to the modernization program, the Air Force requested a MALE ( Medium Altitude Long Endurance ) drone with a minimum of 15 flight hours and a range of 1,000 km.

In March 2019, the US Department of Defense offered $ 13 million "help" to Bangladesh for the acquisition of drones for use in United Nations peacekeeping missions.

It is no coincidence that the Falco Evo was selected by the United Nations for surveillance operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo starting from December 2013. The five Falco EVO employed are part of a contract signed at the end of July 2013 between the UN and Selex ES (now Leonardo) for a total of about 50 million dollars.

The Falco is the only fully developed tactical UAS in Europe that has been exported and used in real operations. In addition to the United Nations, the Italian drone was purchased from Pakistan (first customer), Jordan, Saudi Arabia (about 50 Falco according to some sources) and Turkmenistan (3 Falco). In Pakistan, following agreements between Selex ES and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex , a local production line was started up.

The Falco EVO is 6.2 meters long, has a wingspan of 12.5 meters and a maximum take-off weight of 650 kg . It can fly for more than 20 hours at an altitude of 6,000 meters. It has a load capacity of over 100 kg . It can be controlled up to about 200 km extendable with satellite systems or autonomous flight.

Among the transportable load stand out EO / IR / LRF systems, laser designators, SAR radars, COMINT, ESM, EW, etc including the Gabbiano Ultra Light radar, PicoSAR and electro-optical / infrared EOST 46 turret.

It does not fall under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR ).

Il Bangladesh acquista il drone Falco EVO di Leonardo

L’Aeronautica militare del Bangladesh ha acquistato un sistema UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Falco EVO da Leonardo Il Bangladesh estende così la propria capacità nei velivoli a controllo remoto limitata fino ad ora ad un solo Bramor della slovena C-Astral. A dicembre del 2017, secondo il...

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[Isa Khan]

BAF has received Falco EVO UAV.

 

[Isa Khan]

 

[Isa Khan]

BAF bought two types of Falco.

 

[Gary]

How many airframes in each type ?

 

[Afif]

2/3 is my best guess.

 

[Isa Khan]

At least one UAV system according to information above. (3 in each system)

 

[F-6 enthusiast]

View attachment 52882

what kind of payload can it carry ?

 

[Isa Khan]

what kind of payload can it carry ?

BAF bought two types of Falco.

View attachment 53037

BAF has received Falco EVO UAV.

I am waiting for further confirmation but in FB group they are saying that this is the second version of Falco we got (1st one with radar). No one can confirm but looks like both versions probably have SAGE ESM which looks like hard-point in the photos. The officer in the video above says the UAV has light attack capability and wiki says it has two hard-points which can carry 70kg payload. Never saw/read anything about Falco carrying weapon but hope BAF can integrate something like MAM-C and L.

 

[Isa Khan]

A Falco model at military museum. One of the variant BAF procured.

 

[Afif]

A Falco model at military museum.

View attachment 54187

Did you take the photo?

 

[Isa Khan]

Bangladesh Air Force has integrated Turkish roketsan cirit 70mm laser guided missiles in Selex Falco Astore UAV systems. This confirms the previous statement about light attack capability.

 

[Isa Khan]

It's interesting to see the Bangladesh Air Force operate two different versions of the Falco UAS. The version with an oval-shaped nose is the Falco EVO, which is an upgraded version of the Falco XN. On the other hand, the one with the round-shaped nose is the Falco Astore.

One thing to be noticed here is that BAF's Astore doesn't include the SATCOM; thus, it's missing the hump on it. However, both versions are able to carry two LGM Cirit 70mm guided rockets, which is evident from the available official photos. According to some unofficial sources, Bangladesh also operates the Falco ES variant in the UN Mission in DR Congo, the photo of which was published in a magazine of the Bangladesh Air Force, but, it's mentioned nowhere that it belongs to Bangladesh. In addition, the available photos of UN Falco ES show the absence of Bangladeshi operators or crews anywhere near the drone; thus, it's unconfirmed news till now.

Ops Room

It's interesting to see the Bangladesh Air Force operate two different versions of the Falco UAS. The version with an oval-shaped nose is the Falco EVO, which is an upgraded version of the Falco XN....

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[Isa Khan]

 

[Isa Khan]