Leonardo, Baykar partner in new drone company

Italy’s Leonardo announced at the Paris Air Show 2025 last week, it had set up a 50-50 joint venture with Turkey’s Baykar for the production of uncrewed systems.

A company statement said ‘Leonardo and Baykar will be equal shareholders in the new company named LBA Systems, which will have its legal and operational headquarters in Italy. The joint venture leverages strong industrial synergies and will encompass the design, development, production, and maintenance of unmanned aerial systems (UAS).’

While Baykar will ‘focus on design and development of advanced unmanned platforms,’ ‘Leonardo will provide cutting-edge electronic systems and payloads, implement Manned-Unmanned Teaming and swarming capabilities, and be involved in qualification and certification activities,’ according to the statement.

It quoted the CEO of Leonardo, Roberto Cingolani, as saying, “Integrating Leonardo’s experience in certification and integrated multi-domain technologies with Baykar’s world-class unmanned platforms can truly provide a meaningful boost in seizing opportunities both across Europe and on the global stage.”

The two companies had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this purpose in March.

The statement quoted CEO of Baykar, Selçuk Bayraktar, as saying, “This partnership with Leonardo—a company with world-class expertise in C4I systems and complementary capabilities in aviation—is more than a collaboration; it’s a catalyst for what’s next. Together, we are building a new generation of unmanned systems that are not only intelligent and mission-ready but designed with ethics and interoperability at their core. In a world of growing complexity, this alliance will deliver the AI-driven global security that tomorrow demands.”

Turkey’s Baykar has risen to prominence with the international market success of its uncrewed systems like the Bayraktar TB2 Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). It has also more recently developed the TB3, capable of short runway and shipboard operations, Akinci High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UCAV and the jet-powered Kizilelma unmanned, carrier-capable UCAV.