The aircraft is already being integrated at Leonardo’s Ronchi dei Legionari plant, Mariani said during the company’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call. The work marks the move from establishing the partnership towards initial industrial execution.
Leonardo and Baykar signed the final agreement for the venture shortly before the earnings call. Mariani said the transaction had received all required regulatory approvals in Italy and at European level.
The companies are also preparing presentations and demonstrations for prospective customers. Those activities will cover different applications and are aimed at customers in Italy and international markets, according to Mariani.
Mariani did not identify the customers scheduled to receive the first aircraft. He also gave no details on the number of aircraft involved, their configurations or the financial value of the initial deliveries.
The Baykar venture is part of Leonardo’s wider strategy to expand through industrial partnerships and accelerate its entry into new technologies and markets. Mariani said partnerships can also support sovereignty requirements and give the group access to capabilities that would take longer to develop independently.
Speed of execution has become a central element of Leonardo’s industrial strategy under Mariani. He said the group must accelerate programme development, production, industrialisation and engineering to respond to rapidly changing customer requirements.
The cooperation with Baykar is among the initiatives where Leonardo believes it has greater control over the timetable. Mariani identified the Baykar partnership as one of the projects that management is treating as a priority and actively pushing forward.
That distinguishes the venture from projects where regulatory reviews or decisions by outside parties can determine the pace of progress. With approvals now completed, Leonardo and Baykar have moved directly into aircraft integration and preparations for customer demonstrations.
The immediate milestone is the delivery of the first aircraft before year-end. Mariani’s comments indicate that Leonardo is now focused on converting the newly established partnership into an operational programme and opening it to customers in Italy and abroad.
