ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Leonardo announced on Thursday it would form a joint venture for drones with Turkey's Baykar, as the state-controlled defence company seeks to grow through alliances to take
Italy's Leonardo and Turkey's Baykar Launch Drone Manufacturing Partnership
By Giulia Segreti
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Leonardo and Turkey's Baykar announced on Thursday they were setting up a joint venture to produce unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), as defence companies seek to take advantage of rising military spending in Europe.
"Europe has a gap in unmanned technologies for various reasons, and in a complicated time like the one we are living in it is fundamental to guarantee global security," Leonardo Chief Executive Roberto Cingolani told a press conference.
He said the "cornerstone agreement" with Baykar would address the issue.
The two companies said in a statement they estimated the European market for UAVs to be worth $100 billion over the next 10 years.
Cingolani said there would be production sites in both Italy and Turkey and the joint venture would be headquartered in Italy.
"The two groups have been collaborating on a commercial level for 4-5 years and have now decided to go deeper," Cingolani said.
He added that the deal took 5 months to be drawn up and both firms had already started talking with the armed forces of their respective countries.
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti, editing by Gavin Jones)
