TB3-based platform is first output from LBA Systems joint venture with Baykar Technologies.
LBA Systems has started building the first TB3-derived Astore Levante uncrewed air vehicles for the Italian air force, with the Leonardo-Baykar Technologies joint venture now declared fully operational.
Revealing the milestone, Leonardo chief executive Lorenzo Mariaini says “the first two or three drones are already being assembled” at the company’s Ronchi dei Legionari plant in northern Italy.
This factory has begun what Mariani describes as “low-rate initial production”, adding: “Full-rate production will follow, hopefully [for] Italian customers but also with export customers.”
To date, the Italian air force has ordered two air vehicles, plus a ground control station and holds options for another two units. A first delivery is expected later this year.
However, Mariani says the manufacturer is also “proposing the same configuration to the Italian navy”.
For the Astore Levante platform – which it is displaying at the Farnborough air show – Leonardo integrates a payload package including its sensors and data-links on to the Baykar TB3 medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV.
The Astore Levante and Kizilelma uncrewed combat air vehicles will be built at Leonardo sites, while work on the TB2 and Akinci high-altitude, long-endurance type will take place at airframer Piaggio Aero – an Italian business acquired by Baykar in 2025.
Mariani says Leonardo plans to address an emerging UK requirement for a collaborative combat aircraft “but we still have to understand the best way to be present in that [contest]”.
Leonardo and Baykar, meanwhile, have confirmed the official start of LBA’s operations, having obtained all the regulatory authorisations and appointed a new lead for the business.
Additionally, to better co-ordinate its operation, Leonardo plans to establish a dedicated uncrewed systems business unit within its broader aeronautics division.
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