{"id":4096,"date":"2026-01-06T22:21:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/?p=4096"},"modified":"2026-01-07T22:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T19:22:22","slug":"leonardo-and-baykars-uav-production-strategy-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/?p=4096","title":{"rendered":"Leonardo and Baykar’s UAV production strategy in Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Leonardo and Baykar Unveil LBA Systems UAV Production Strategy Across Italy.<\/strong>

\"Leonardo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joint venture to manufacture five UAV models, including the Kizilelma UCAV, with integrated Turkish platforms and Italian payloads<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leonardo and Baykar Technologies have detailed their industrial roadmap for the LBA Systems joint venture, which will produce five uncrewed air vehicle (UAV) models at multiple sites across Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on 5 November, Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani outlined the collaboration\u2019s strategy, combining Turkish-developed UAV platforms with advanced sensor and weapon payloads from the Italian aerospace firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key highlight of the plan is the production of Baykar\u2019s Kizilelma unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) at Leonardo\u2019s Grottaglie facility in southern Italy, currently used for manufacturing composite fuselage barrels for the Boeing 787. \u201cIt will be our universal adjunct fighter, adaptable to any platform as long as the control electronics are developed \u2014 which is precisely our expertise,\u201d<\/em> Cingolani stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional production will take place at Leonardo\u2019s Ronchi dei Legionari site in northern Italy, where Baykar\u2019s TB3 UAVs will be assembled alongside the revived Mirach aerial target. Meanwhile, Piaggio Aerospace\u2019s Villanova d\u2019Albenga plant \u2014 acquired by Baykar in June \u2014 will handle manufacturing of the Akinci and TB2 UAVs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting infrastructure will include engineering and technology centers in Rome and Turin. \u201cWe are investing heavily and upgrading production lines,\u201d Cingolani added. \u201cI believe the first product will reach the market next year.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LBA Systems venture, officially launched at the Paris Air Show in June, is currently awaiting regulatory approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In parallel, Baykar announced in October that its Kizilelma UCAV successfully deployed Aselsan\u2019s Tolun and Roketsan\u2019s Teber-82 precision-guided munitions during flight testing. Later that month, the jet flew for the first time equipped with Aselsan\u2019s Murad 100-A active electronically scanned array radar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serial production of the Kizilelma has already begun in Turkey, with deliveries expected to commence in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Turkey has signed a \u00a35.4 billion contract for Eurofighter Typhoons, with final assembly to be conducted in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source:\u00a0<\/strong>Flight International &\u00a0\u00a9XAirForces News<\/a>, 06 January 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo:<\/strong> LBA Systems UAV production Italy. Leonardo and Baykar Technologies detail their LBA Systems joint venture to produce five UAV models in Italy, including the Kizilelma UCAV, integrating Turkish platforms with Italian payloads and sensors. (Photo by \u00a9XAirForces)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor:<\/strong>\u00a0Burcu Kizilcan<\/a>\u00a0(\u00a9XAirForces News Editor from T\u00fcrkiye \/ XairForces Spotter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leonardo and Baykar Unveil LBA Systems UAV Production Strategy Across Italy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leonardo and Baykar Unveil LBA Systems UAV Production Strategy Across Italy. Joint venture to manufacture five UAV models, including the Kizilelma UCAV, with integrated Turkish platforms and Italian payloads Leonardo and Baykar Technologies have...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1670,36,1685,174,33,1727,1729,15,1,7,22,31,6,32,18],"tags":[4994,5006,3877,5009,4995,5003,191,4998,4991,5002,5000,1999,4999,4997,5008,4996,5005,5007,4992,4993,5004,5001,912,5010,915],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4096"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4098,"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096\/revisions\/4098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xairforces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}