Baykar vows to produce military drones at Piaggio sites in Italy

ROME — Turkish drone firm Baykar has said it will produce its Akinci and TB2 platforms in Italy at Piaggio Aerospace, for which acquisition proceedings began in December.

The drone maker revealed the plan in a statement announcing the closing of the Piaggio deal, which gives the Turkish firm a foothold in Europe after supplying countries across the world with its drones.

“The production of the AKINCI and TB2 UAVs – two of the most advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles currently in service – has been designated for Piaggio Aerospace’s facilities to support future market demand,” said the statement.

The closing of the deal on June 30 was signed off at Italy’s Ministry of Enterprise, which has overseen Piaggio since it was in placed in receivership prior to the purchase.

Baykar said it wanted to relaunch Piaggio’s P.180 Avanti EVO aircraft which it said now featured upgrades developed with Italy’s ministry of defense.

The plan to also build Baykar drones at Piaggio was alluded to by Baykar management in March but confirmed in the newstatement for the first time.

“Under the terms of the agreement, Baykar has pledged to maintain current employment levels at the Villanova d’Albenga and Genoa sites, with plans to expand the workforce in line with the growth of production activities,” Baykar said.

Selçuk Bayraktar, Chairman and CTO of Baykar, said the purchase would “bring new life to Italian aviation design and manufacturing.”

Piaggio was taken over in 2014 by Mubadala Development Company, an Abu Dhabi-based strategic investment and development company which was due to build an unmanned version of the P.180 for the UAE.

The UAE however wanted Italy to be the first customer for the so-called Hammerhead. When Italian officials balked at the purchase, Mubadala dumped the firm.

That means Baykar now has access to work carried out on the Hammerhead.

Italian enterprise minister Adolfo Urso said the deal ensured “a great future for a company that has had a glorious past, an icon of Made in Italy.”

Baykar’s purchase of Piaggio couples with its drone cooperation deal with Italy’s Leonardo, which was announced in March and confirmed at the Paris Air Show.

Leonardo is planning to install its radars and electronics on Baykar drones as part of the deal and has said it will be working on the project at its sites in Italy at Ronchi dei Legionari, Turin, Rome and Grottaglie in southern Italy.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——土耳其无人机公司 Baykar 表示，将在意大利比亚乔航空航天公司生产其 Akinci 和 TB2 平台，该公司于去年 12 月开始接受比亚乔航空航天公司的收购。

这家无人机制造商在一份声明中透露了该计划，该声明宣布完成对比亚乔的交易，这使得这家土耳其公司在向世界各国供应无人机后，在欧洲站稳了脚跟。

声明称：“AKINCI 和 TB2 无人机是目前服役的两款最先进的无人机，其生产已指定在比亚乔航空航天公司的工厂进行，以满足未来的市场需求。”

6 月 30 日，意大利企业部正式签署了这笔交易，该部自比亚乔被接管以来一直对其进行监管。

Baykar 表示，它希望重新推出比亚乔的 P.180 Avanti EVO 飞机，并称该飞机现在配备了与意大利国防部共同开发的升级部件。

Baykar 管理层在 3 月份曾暗示过在 Piaggio 工厂生产 Baykar 无人机的计划，但直到这份新闻稿才首次得到证实。

“根据协议条款，Baykar承诺维持Villanova d'Albenga和Genoa工厂目前的就业水平，并计划随着生产活动的增长扩大员工队伍，”Baykar表示。

Baykar 董事长兼首席技术官 Selçuk Bayraktar 表示，此次收购将“为意大利航空设计和制造带来新的活力”。

2014 年，比亚乔被总部位于阿布扎比的战略投资和发展公司穆巴达拉发展公司收购，该公司原本计划为阿联酋建造 P.180 的无人版本。

然而，阿联酋希望意大利成为所谓“锤头鲨”潜艇的首个客户。当意大利官员对购买意向犹豫不决时，穆巴达拉公司便放弃了这家公司。

这意味着 Baykar 现在可以查看在 Hammerhead 上进行的工作。

意大利企业部长阿道夫·乌尔索表示，这项交易确保了“这家拥有辉煌过去、意大利制造的标志性企业拥有美好的未来”。

Baykar 收购 Piaggio 的同时，还与意大利 Leonardo 达成了无人机合作协议，该协议于 3 月宣布，并在巴黎航展上得到确认。

根据协议，莱昂纳多计划在 Baykar 无人机上安装其雷达和电子设备，并表示将在其位于意大利 Ronchi dei Legionari、都灵、罗马和意大利南部 Grottaglie 的基地开展该项目。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。