P.180 Avanti II Selected As Aerial Reconnaissance Platform

The  Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) has awarded a contract to Piaggio Aero to provide a photo reconnaissance aircraft.

Piaggio Aero was selected as the winner bidder by the RTAF Special Procurement Committee, and a contract was signed Tuesday at Piaggio Aero’s headquarters by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the RTAF, Air Chief Marshal Sutthiphan Kritsanakhup and the CEO of  Piaggio Aero, Carlo Logli, in the presence of General Carlo Magrassi, National Security Advisor to the Italian Prime Minister, and Aerial Squadron Marshall General Enzo Vecciarelli from the Italian Air Force.

The selected aerial reconnaissance platform will be based on the P.180 Avanti II aircraft, customized for territorial multifunctional surveillance, featuring customized photography systems for which the Avanti aircraft is ideally outfitted.

The Piaggio Aero P.180 Avanti is a twin engine, three lifting surfaces, special missions aircraft configured for photo reconnaissance. The single pilot certified Avanti II has a rage of 1,450 nm, four hour endurance, a maximum speed of 402 kts and is able to reach an altitude of 41,000 ft; these performances can be compared to those of a turbojet aircraft, maintaining 40% lower fuel consumption than any same size jet.

The Avanti features the widest cabin of its segment, which  combined with the operational flexibility of the aircraft and the multiplicity of the equipment that can be installed, is the most cost effective solution for special mission configurations.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.piaggioaero.com