Italy's government has issued approval to the joint venture between state-controlled defense group Leonardo and Türkiye's powerhouse Baykar to produce unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a report said Wednesday.
The deal, first announced in March 2025 and structured as a 50-50 partnership, aims to address Europe's weakness in the drone industry, with the two groups seeing a UAV market worth some $100 billion over the next 10 years.
The government cleared the partnership at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing a source.
Under one of the approval’s conditions, sales of the drones and any further international development of the joint venture will be limited to countries politically aligned with Europe and NATO.
All technology used in the drones will be classified, the report said.
