The Italy-based LBA Systems, a 50-50 joint venture between Turkish drone maker Baykar and Italian defense group Leonardo, has become fully operational and begun producing its first Astore Levante drones, with deliveries to an unidentified customer in Italy expected by the end of the year, the companies announced Tuesday.
Leonardo and Baykar announced at the Farnborough International Airshow that regulatory approvals had been completed and the venture’s leadership appointed. The company has its legal and operational headquarters in Italy. Leonardo also created an Unmanned Business Unit within its Aeronautics Division to coordinate industrial and commercial work for the venture.
The Astore Levante combines Baykar’s carrier-capable Bayraktar TB3 platform with Leonardo sensors, mission systems and a ground control station. A first batch is under construction at Leonardo facilities, the companies said.
Production work on the Astore Levante and Bayraktar Kızılelma unmanned combat aircraft will be carried out at Leonardo sites. Work on the Bayraktar TB2 and Akıncı platforms will take place at Baykar’s plant in Italy.
LBA Systems’ initial portfolio contains six configurations: the Kalkan, two versions of the TB2, the Astore Levante, the Akıncı and the Kızılelma. The venture plans to combine Baykar platforms with Leonardo payloads and avionics while developing systems using artificial intelligence, cyber resilience and interoperability across military domains.
The Kızılelma recently completed crewed-uncrewed teaming tests with Leonardo’s M-346F light fighter aircraft. Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar said the trials showed that the Turkish aircraft’s autonomous systems had reached NATO standards.
The companies signed a memorandum of understanding in Rome in March 2025 and announced the creation of LBA Systems at the Paris Air Show three months later. They estimate the European market for uncrewed aircraft at about $100 billion over 10 years.
The Italian government conditionally approved the venture in June under its “golden power” rules for protecting strategic industries. The conditions limit sales and further international development to countries politically aligned with Europe and NATO and classify all technology used in the drones.
Baykar has also expanded its manufacturing presence in Italy through its acquisition of aircraft producer Piaggio Aerospace.
Partnership attracted scrutiny over Leonardo’s Israel ties
The partnership drew criticism when it was announced because of Leonardo’s longstanding defense ties with Israel. The issue has sparked attention in Turkey because the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says it halted direct trade with Israel over the latter’s military campaign in Gaza, while Baykar is chaired by Erdoğan’s son-in-law, Selçuk Bayraktar.
Leonardo products supplied to the Israeli military have included OTO 76/62 naval guns installed on Sa’ar-class warships and M-346 training aircraft. Its US subsidiary Leonardo DRS merged with Israeli radar manufacturer RADA Electronic Industries in 2022.
A Leonardo DRS unit received a $15.4 million US Foreign Military Sales contract in December 2023 to provide heavy-duty tank transport trailers to the Israeli military, with delivery expected to continue through 2026, according to the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that tracks corporate involvement in military occupations.
A Palestinian citizen and seven Italian civil society groups filed a lawsuit against Leonardo and the Italian government in 2025 seeking the cancellation of any contracts for arms sales or supplies to Israel. The groups alleged that Leonardo continued to supply the Israel Defense Forces in violation of Italian and international law.
Leonardo denied the allegations, saying it complied with arms export laws and that attempts to connect its activities to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza were a distortion without a legal basis. Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani said no new export licenses to Israel had been issued after the Israeli campaign started in October 2023 and that the company’s direct ties were limited to two longstanding maintenance contracts for unarmed training aircraft.
Cingolani acknowledged concerns involving Leonardo DRS and its Israeli radar business but said those operations were governed by foreign jurisdictions. Italy announced a halt to new weapons exports to Israel after the start of the Gaza campaign, while Defense Minister Guido Crosetto later said previously approved orders were still being fulfilled after checks intended to ensure the equipment would not be used against civilians.
Responding to criticism of the joint venture in June 2025, Baykar said the Italian state, which owns 30.2 percent of Leonardo, had stopped all defense agreements and trade with Israel after October 7, 2023. Baykar said LBA Systems would operate in line with its “moral position and sense of conscientious responsibility” and cited the company’s humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
Turkey has sought to cast itself as one of Israel’s most vocal state critics since the latter’s military campaign in Gaza began, joining South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and repeatedly calling for Israel to face legal and economic pressure.
That position has also faced scrutiny from pro-Palestinian groups and UN experts who say Ankara’s rhetoric has not matched its economic and logistical ties.
In an October 2025 report titled “Gaza Genocide: a collective crime,” UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese named Turkey as among countries who had enabled Israel’s genocide in Gaza via trade and supply chains, including ports used for dual use goods and materials, that is, items that can also be used for military purposes.
The report also cited allegations that some trade continued indirectly despite Turkey’s declared restrictions and noted the role of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which carries Azerbaijani oil through Turkey to the Mediterranean terminal of Ceyhan, from where crude has been shipped to Israel.
Turkey announced in 2024 that it had suspended trade with Israel, but activists and opposition figures have continued to point to oil flows, port access and indirect commerce.