Istanbul, 06 March 2025 (Anadolu News)

Türkiye's leading drone producer Baykar Technologies and Italian defense giant Leonardo signed a partnership agreement Thursday in unmanned technologies.

The agreement was signed by Leonardo's CEO Roberto Cingolani, Baykar's Chairman Selcuk Bayraktar and CEO Haluk Bayraktar at Leonardo headquarters in Rome.

"We have been in intensive negotiations for months. We were already working with Leonardo and there are systems we have integrated," said Selcuk Bayraktar.  "We were already cooperating and the chemistry and synergy have developed in a fascinating way in recent months," he noted.  Stressing that the two companies have complementary features, Selcuk Bayraktar said: “We can make the best systems together. We thank them for their cooperation, we are very happy to start this journey.”

Leonardo's CEO Roberto Cingolani stated that “Today is a very important day as we are signing a memorandum of understanding with Baykar. We have identified important cornerstones with our colleagues from Baykar". Stating that they are going through a complex period, the agreement is a product of their intensive work in the last five months.

“This is a great result,” Cingoloni said, noting that the agreement is for five years but envisages a deeper cooperation. He added that he was very impressed by his visit to Baykar facilities in Istanbul, Baykar has a very wide product family in UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). he said.