​​The integration of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in military applications requires the development of complex systems to ensure flight safety and define a new paradigm in the use of air and sea assets. While for traditional aircraft, the test campaigns known as SHOL (Ship-Helicopter Operating Limits) rigidly determine the polar diagrams and safe wind conditions for take-off and landing on an aircraft carrier, similar guidelines have not yet been developed for remotely piloted systems.

To fill this experimental gap, in my thesis, which was carried out with the support of the Italian Navy's Naval Aviation Test and Evaluation Center (Centro Sperimentale Aeromarittimo, CSA), I developed a procedure to define the Ship-UAS Operating Limits (SUOL), focusing specifically on unmanned rotary-wing aircraft. During the research, I examined the optimal approach and landing trajectories of the Leonardo AWHERO drone on LHD Trieste, analysing two different flight directions in different weather and sea conditions: from the stern, at 180° to the ship, and from the stern-left, at 225°.

Using a windless scenario as an initial reference to plot the ideal basic path, I subsequently varied the intensity and direction of the wind to numerically map the aircraft's behaviour and derive the operational envelope. The simulations showed how the remotely piloted system modifies its trajectory to take advantage of the wind profile and maintain compliance with the kinematic and structural constraints imposed by the naval environment.

This analytical approach allowed me to identify in advance the critical conditions in which at least one of the performance or geometric limits of the vehicle is exceeded, providing support for the planning of future experimental campaigns on board. Even within the scope of the modelling simplifications adopted, the results show that preliminary trajectory optimisation provides a realistic prediction of the aircraft's behaviour already in the early stages of development, reducing the need for exploratory trials at sea and limiting the time, cost and downtime of the ship during the tests.

As an officer of the Italian Navy Engineering Corps, specialising in Naval Engineering, I graduated in Naval Engineering from the University of Trieste on 19 March 2026 after completing my course at the Naval Academy, and I am currently assigned to LSS Atlante as future Platform Department Head.​