Leonardo, drone maker Baykar seek ‘synergies’ on battlefield sensors

ROME — Italy’s Leonardo and Turkish drone maker Baykar are discussing a team-up which could see Leonardo’s electronics and radar mounted on Baykar’s drones.

Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani visited Baykar’s Turkish facility this week to meet management and check out the firm’s line of drones including the Bayraktar TB2, which has influenced conflicts in Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine.

“There was a great interest in seeking synergies,” a Leonardo source told Defense News.

While Baykar has established a huge presence in the drone market, Leonardo has also sold over 50 of its Falco drone variants and is also a partner on the evolving Eurodrone program with Spain, France and Germany.

The firm also specializes in airborne electronics and sensors like the Gabbiano electronically scanned radar, which will be mounted on the Eurodrone, suggesting Leonardo could put its systems on Baykar drones.

“Cingolani’s logic is that there must be the possibility for synergy in terms of technology, and on the basis of that commercial synergy can be looked at, as was the case with Leonardo’s cooperation with Rheinmetall,” the source said.

In October, Leonardo and Rheinmetall teamed to build new fighting vehicles and tanks for the Italian army which will feature Leonardo electronics and turrets combined with Rheinmetall platforms.

Last month, Baykar purchased Italy’s Piaggio Aerospace , bringing the firm out of six years of receivership.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利的莱昂纳多公司和土耳其无人机制造商Baykar正在讨论合作事宜，莱昂纳多公司的电子设备和雷达可能会安装在Baykar公司的无人机上。

莱昂纳多公司首席执行官罗伯托·辛戈拉尼本周访问了拜卡尔位于土耳其的工厂，与管理层会面并考察了该公司的无人机产品线，其中包括对利比亚、纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫和乌克兰冲突产生影响的拜拉克塔尔TB2无人机。

“各方对寻求协同效应表现出了浓厚的兴趣，”莱昂纳多公司的一位消息人士告诉《防务新闻》。

虽然 Baykar 在无人机市场占据了巨大的份额，但 Leonardo 也售出了 50 多架 Falco 无人机，并且还是与西班牙、法国和德国共同参与的不断发展的 Eurodrone 项目的合作伙伴。

该公司还专门从事机载电子设备和传感器，例如将安装在 Eurodrone 上的 Gabbiano 电子扫描雷达，这表明 Leonardo 可能会将其系统安装在 Baykar 无人机上。

消息人士称：“辛戈拉尼的逻辑是，技术方面必须存在协同效应的可能性，在此基础上才能考虑商业协同效应，就像莱昂纳多与莱茵金属的合作一样。”

10 月，莱昂纳多和莱茵金属公司联手为意大利军队建造新型战斗车辆和坦克，这些车辆和坦克将采用莱昂纳多公司的电子设备和炮塔，并结合莱茵金属公司的平台。

上个月，Baykar 收购了意大利的比亚乔航空航天公司，使该公司摆脱了长达六年的破产管理状态。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。