LBA Methods, to be based mostly in Italy, can be devoted to the design, growth, and manufacturing of unmanned aerial programs.
Introduced on the Paris Air Present, Italian based mostly aerospace large Leonardo has strengthened its ties to the Turkish firm Baykar, well-known for its Bayraktar collection of unmanned plane, with an all new 50:50 partnership in three way partnership LBA Methods. The joint firm follows on from a memorandum of understanding which was signed between Leonardo and Baykar in Rome in March 2025.
LBA Methods will draw upon Baykar’s expertise with unmanned platforms with the corporate taking the lead on the bodily design of future platforms, whereas Leonardo will leverage its experience in electronics and mission programs to outfit Baykar’s designs with the newest applied sciences. This can embody manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) and swarm capabilities.
Turkey’s drone agency Baykar and Italian protection agency Leonardo established a brand new three way partnership; LBA Methods.
On the Paris Air Present, Bayraktar TB3 and AKINCI excessive altitude drone are exhibited with the brand of the newly established LBA Methods firm. pic.twitter.com/BwwyggmKjK
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) June 15, 2025
Baykar has been in enterprise because the Nineteen Eighties, however started getting into the unmanned aerial automobile (UAV) market within the twenty first century. The corporate’s most profitable design so far, the Bayraktar TB2, earned them worldwide fame following notable successes within the service of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine.
🇺🇦⚓️ Ukrainian Navy’s Bayraktar TB2 destroyed a Russian army boat in Kherson area. pic.twitter.com/7xr3vF9Rku
— MAKS 25 🇺🇦👀 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) June 24, 2025
Throughout its varied arms and subsidiaries, Leonardo has made headway into the UAV market however hasn’t but serially produced any platforms within the medium altitude lengthy endurance (MALE) class served by the TB2 (and different choices just like the MQ-9 Reaper). It’s a companion within the multinational Eurodrone program, however, although it has been ordered by a number of nations, this has but to supply a flying prototype.
Leonardo will hope to make use of Baykar’s experience on this space to extend its market share for unmanned programs. Baykar, in the meantime, can reap the benefits of Leonardo’s robust foundations in Western European nations like Italy and the UK to convey its merchandise to a wider market.
Together with electronics and mission programs, Leonardo is providing its intensive expertise with certification processes throughout Europe and past to ease the journey into service for any future varieties.
“We firmly imagine that technological cooperation is a robust means to handle the unprecedented challenges going through the protection sector,” mentioned Leonardo CEO, Roberto Cingolani. He added that “integrating Leonardo’s expertise in certification and built-in multi-domain applied sciences with Baykar’s world-class unmanned platforms can really present a significant enhance in seizing alternatives each throughout Europe and on the worldwide stage.”
Selçuk Bayraktar, Chairman and CTO of Baykar Applied sciences, commented “At Baykar, we have now at all times believed that the way forward for aerospace lies in daring concepts and boundary-breaking innovation. Because the world’s main developer and exporter of UAVs, we’ve turned that perception into actuality on the sphere. This partnership with Leonardo—an organization with world-class experience in C4I programs and complementary capabilities in aviation—is greater than a collaboration; it’s a catalyst for what’s subsequent. Collectively, we’re constructing a brand new era of unmanned programs that aren’t solely clever and mission-ready however designed with ethics and interoperability at their core.”
He additional emphasised his firm’s need to develop to new markets, and strengthen its place as a famous specialist within the unmanned aviation sector: “This partnership displays Baykar’s long-term technique of deepening worldwide cooperation and increasing our position as a world innovator in high-impact, autonomous protection applied sciences.”
Piaggio acquisition
That is notably a second step for Baykar in the direction of integrating itself with the broader European market, and Italy specifically. In 2024, Baykar made a profitable bid to accumulate Italian aerospace agency Piaggio. The corporate has confronted a number of years of economic battle and was ultimately put up on the market in 2020.
Baykar CEO, Haluk Bayraktar, hinted that Piaggio as a person model will proceed into the longer term as Baykar seems to be to protect the corporate’s historic id. The brand new homeowners will search to extend Piaggio’s manufacturing capability and supply employment alternatives in Italy.
Piaggio is most well-known at the moment for its P.180 Avanti govt transport, which is in service with the Italian army, however moreover marketed an unmanned variant designated P.1HH Hammerhead. The Hammerhead is a MALE UAV, just like the TB2, however importantly is a a lot bigger design with an elevated payload, greater service ceiling, and sooner working pace. Each designs have benefits relying on the mission required, so wouldn’t essentially compete with one another.
An improved model, the P.2HH, was revealed in 2018 however has but to be seen. Baykar might use their experience within the subject to enhance upon the P.1HH and P.2HH designs additional, and with its advertising prowess and current buyer base may lastly get the undertaking totally off the bottom.
The primary MoU
Leonardo and Baykar Applied sciences signed a primary Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Mar. 6, 2025, throughout a ceremony in Rome. This MoU, based mostly on the economic synergies and complementarities of Leonardo and Baykar within the unmanned sector, was step one in the direction of the brand new Joint Enterprise, LBA Methods.
This partnership will leverage Baykar’s industry-leading unmanned platforms, which have demonstrated operational effectiveness throughout varied world markets, and Leonardo’s experience in mission programs, payload design, and associated aerospace certification in Europe. Apparently, the collaboration will even lengthen into the sphere of area applied sciences.
The European marketplace for the subsequent ten years, masking unmanned fighters, armed surveillance drones, and deep strike drones, is projected to achieve $ 100 billion, mentioned the 2 firms. Due to the brand new three way partnership, Leonardo and Baykar will collectively pursue alternatives in each the European and worldwide markets, additionally capitalizing on extra synergies within the area sector.
Proper now, it appears that evidently the main target of the collaboration would be the Bayraktar Akinci UCAV. Baykar’s CEO says Akinki was chosen because the platform already contains some unspecified Leonardo applied sciences, and this phase is perceived to be the largest hole within the European market.
