Italy's Leonardo and the Turkish company Baykar are exploring important industrial synergies in the field of unmanned technologies, according to Leonardo's official communications.
As we write, the way this synergy will shape up is under definition, with a joint venture among the options. Certainly, the two companies are well advanced in their talks, as demonstrated by the visit Leonardo's CEO, Roberto Cingolani, paid to Baykar last week. If successful, this operation would radically revolutionise the drone market, today dominated by the US and Israel.
Baykar's TB-2 tactical reconnaissance and strike UAV has been a great commercial success, the KIZILELMA UCAV has been flying since 2022 and production has already started, while the super-MALE TB-3 took off and landed for the first time in November 2024 from the deck of the ANADOLU aircraft carrier/drone carrier.
Leonardo could bring into this partnership its expertise in the unmanned sector - the FALCO family, which has been very successful commercially, the MIRACH family of aerial target systems, ATOS suite, and SAGE, BRITE STORM, GABBIANO radar, etc. in the subsector of sensor systems and electronic warfare. So, if Baykar's aircraft have not always been outstanding in terms of electronics - see, for example, the case of the TB-2 in Ukraine - Leonardo's products would greatly expand their capabilities.
In brief, a potentially strategic partnership is breeding. The likely acquisition of Piaggio Aerospace by Baykar would also brings such a partnership to a different stage, with evidently strong governmental imprimatur between Rome and Ankara.
Privacy Policy
Powered by © Mobilbyte s.a.s. Information Technology