Leonardo Teams with Discovery Air Defence and Inzpire to Deliver a Solution for Air Support to Defence Operational Training Programme for the British Armed Forces

• Team to develop industry leading solution for safe, highly-representative live air support to the British Armed Forces and its allies
• Companies to combine proven capabilities, expertise and experience for a long-term, dependable, and low-risk solution implementation and service delivery
• Solution capabilities will scale with the evolving operational and technological needs of live air training, operations, and simulation to support RAF Typhoon and F-35 Lightning II operational readiness through the mid-2030s

LONDON, Sept. 12, 2017 /CNW/ - Leonardo has teamed with Discovery Air Defence Services Inc. ("DA Defence"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Discovery Air Inc., and Inzpire Ltd. to develop and deliver a customer-centered, low-risk, live air training solution for the UK Ministry of Defence's Air Support to Defence Operational Training ("ASDOT") programme. The companies will combine their capabilities, expertise and experience in live air aggressor training, air warfare training, Electronic Warfare and airborne systems integration to deliver a highly capable and scalable solution to support ASDOT's live fly tactical training needs through the mid-2030s.

DA Defence and Inzpire first announced a relationship in February 2017 to combine their unique capabilities to support ASDOT. Leonardo now joins the team with years of experience and expertise in designing and delivering long term, complex programmes for the UK MOD, including in world-class airborne systems, radars and electronics. The team intends to deliver the most operationally and technically relevant fleet and technical solutions to support ASDOT training requirements.

Leonardo: A Top-10 Global Aerospace, Defence and Security Company

Leonardo is at the forefront of UK innovation in airborne systems and services and therefore an ideal partner for ASDOT. As well as delivering advanced technologies such as radars, sensors and electronic warfare systems to the British Armed Forces, the company partners with the UK Ministry of Defence to deliver contracts that often span multiple platforms, systems and services. With extensive experience in working with the RAF on their Typhoon and Tornado aircraft, providing advanced technology, training, services and support, Leonardo is well placed to understand the end user requirements for ASDOT and offer the best mix of simulation, networked and integrated training capabilities to train British combat jet pilots in the most effective and efficient way possible.

Inzpire: Trusted Experts in Team and Collective Training for the British Military

Inzpire is trusted by the RAF Air Warfare Centre, RAF Typhoon Force, and Air Battlespace Training Centre at RAF Waddington to design and deliver large-scale live and synthetic operational training. The company has one-of-a-kind experience in LVC (live, virtual, constructive) training research, development, and delivery in the UK. Inzpire's pilots conduct live combat training with the British Army.

Apache and Wildcat helicopter pilots on a daily basis. For ASDOT, as with their existing training delivery, Inzpire will act as "Red One" by producing, leading and executing the Aggressor plan.

DA Defence: Delivering Safe and Representative Aggressors for 5^th Generation Training

DA Defence is the most experienced provider of turnkey tactical airborne training in the world. With eight Main Operating Bases across three continents, DA Defence operates the world's largest privately-owned fleet of aggressor and combat support aircraft. With more than 66,000 accident-free flight hours, DA Defence is the exclusive fast-jet airborne training service provider to the Canadian, German, and Australian armed forces. DA Defence's unique mix of modern fighter and special mission aircraft equipped with representative 4^th generation threat capabilities will deliver the mission profiles, flexibility, and availability demanded by ASDOT.

About Leonardo

Leonardo is among the top ten global players in Aerospace, Defence and Security and Italy's main industrial company. As a single entity from January 2016, organised into seven business divisions (Helicopters; Aircraft; Aero-structures; Airborne & Space Systems; Land & Naval Defence Electronics; Defence Systems; Security & Information Systems), Leonardo operates in the most competitive international markets by leveraging its areas of technology and product leadership. Listed on the Milan Stock Exchange (LDO), at 31 December 2016 Leonardo recorded consolidated revenues of 12 billion Euros and has a significant industrial presence in Italy, the UK, the U.S. and Poland.

About Inzpire

Inzpire is a proudly British company and was founded in 2005. As a joint-services organisation with more than 1,600 years of military experience, and 200,000 flying hours across the Royal Air Force, British Army and Royal Navy, the Company delivers a range of Defence Managed Services in addition to Mission Systems products. Inzpire delivers a full suite of training and consultancy services to improve performance, safety, value and efficiency. It provides rotary, fixed wing and UAS operational training both in synthetic and live environments, as well as supporting UK Typhoon operations. More information is available at www.inzpire.com

About Discovery Air Defence

DA Defence and its U.S. subsidiary, Top Aces Corp., have the world's largest privately-held operating fleet of fighter aircraft. The training provided supports the operational readiness of both current and future generation fighter aircraft. Discover more on how DA Defence is changing the face of air combat training at experiencematters.ca

About Discovery Air

Discovery Air is a global leader in specialty aviation services. We deliver exceptional air combat training, medevac equipped aircraft services, air charter services, helicopter operations, and transport and logistics support to ensure operational readiness, health, safety, and vital lifelines for our clients and the communities we serve. Discovery Air's unsecured convertible debentures trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol DA.DB.A).

SOURCE Discovery Air Inc.

Leonardo Press Office, Leonardo S.p.A., [email protected], [phone]; Becki Hall, Marketing and Communications Manager, Inzpire Ltd, [email protected], [phone]; Garrick Ngai, Director of Marketing, Discovery Air Defence Services Inc., [email protected], [phone]

Related Links

www.discoveryair.com