ISTANBUL

Italian defense giant Leonardo hopes to become a leading player in drone systems with the recently established joint venture with Turkish defense firm Baykar, the Italian firm’s chairman said in a recent interview.

“Let me say that we are very proud that we have been chosen by Baykar… as we have chosen Baykar and Baykar has chosen us as a partner,” Stefano Pontecorvo told TRT World at the 55th Paris Air Show at Paris-Le Bourget Airport. “It is a terrific company, probably the best in the world.”

LBA Systems, a 50-50 joint venture between the two companies, will design, develop, manufacture, and maintain unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

“We are so committed to the partnership that we have today, for the first time ever in our history, a common stand with another company—and that company is Baykar,” said Pontecorvo.

“We’re expecting to become a leading company in the drone space, and then we will build on that together,” he noted. “We will make an extraordinary product (…) for (the) European and world markets.”

Pontecorvo said the Akinci TB3 and the TB2 will be at the forefront of the joint venture, as well as Leonardo’s own drones.

He noted that the joint venture will have a fixed platform at the forefront, and Leonardo will “contribute in the maximum way.”

“We work with a lot of Turkish companies, and we are very proud of working with Baykar,” he said.

“Baykar is, like us, very committed to technology, research, and development, so, together, we can do great things, and it will contribute very significantly to (the) European defense in a field in which Europe, starting with the UAVs, is lagging behind.

“Technology moves very fast, so we are starting with a fixed platform to be able to start with these three, these four drones. I was a UAV as I was talking about," he added.