Italian defense giant praises Baykar: We aimed to be partners with the Turks

According to reports in the Italian press, Pontecorvo, who attended the presentation of the digital archives established by Leonardo in Genoa, made evaluations regarding the possibility of a partnership between Baykar and Leonardo.

In response to a question about whether the process would proceed quickly, Leonardo President Pontecorvo stated that the company's CEO Roberto Cingolani was acting quickly on this issue, saying, "He is like a Formula 1 car. So yes, the process will proceed quickly. There is no more time to waste in the defense industry. The era of making up words is over."

Pontecorvo, who visited Baykar's production center in Istanbul last week, noted:

"Baykar is a company run by very serious people. If it were not an excellent company, it would not have become a leader in this sector in 12 years. As Leonardo, we do not have a direct relationship with Piaggio Aerospace (which Baykar acquired), but since we aim to be partners with the Turks and if the negotiations we are conducting progress positively, we will definitely keep a close eye on such a prestigious Italian company."

Pontecorvo also told the Genoa-based newspaper "Il Secolo XIX", "We will soon receive very good news about the possible cooperation with Piaggio, which the Turks bought. Baykar is the world leader and we are in talks to try to cooperate. If it is successful, it will be a great return to that region."

Pontecorvo emphasized that Leonardo intends to cooperate with Baykar on UAVs.

Meanwhile, Leonardo's CEO Roberto Cingolani, in an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency in Rome in January, said, "There is a very strong complementarity between Leonardo's technologies and Baykar's technologies. We have seen that if we do some things together with our colleagues at Baykar, we can really make a leap in unmanned systems and open up new market areas, especially in Europe."

On the other hand, the Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy also approved the sale of the Italian aviation company Piaggio Aerospace to Baykar on December 27, 2024.