Italy is holding tests with MBDA to mount the European missile maker’s weapons on the Astore Levante, a new drone developed with Turkey’s Baykar, Defense News reported on October 12, 2026. Gen. Antonio Conserva, the Italian Air Force chief, said in Rome: “At the moment we have not made choices, the natural armament is Turkish,” adding, “but we also have activities with MBDA and small Italian industrial groups,” and “We will see if we go on to expand the capability.” No specific MBDA weapon was named in the reports Lens read.

The drone

  • Derived from Baykar’s TB-3, assembled in Italy by LBA Systems, a joint venture between Baykar and Leonardo, and due to carry Leonardo sensors (Defense News).
  • Presented alongside Turkish weapons, including Roketsan’s MAM family of guided bombs and Baykar’s KEMANKES-1 mini cruise missile (Defense News).
  • Roles: intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, armed support for troops, and training drone pilots, according to Conserva. It will replace the MQ-1 Predator flown by the air force.
  • Conserva said the drone was set to be certified by the end of 2026 or in early 2027. Defense News said European certification is a prerequisite for selling it in Europe.

Order status

Defense News said the air force “is due to acquire six of the drones” and “will initially order three systems, each containing two drones.” AeroTime and Aviation News, both citing Rivista Italiana Difesa on October 13, reported that the order for three systems totaling six aircraft has been placed; Aviation News said its value was not disclosed. Lens did not read Rivista Italiana Difesa and found no air force or Defence Ministry release.

LBA Systems

Leonardo and Baykar announced the joint venture on June 16, 2025, as equal shareholders, with legal and operational headquarters in Italy, after a memorandum signed in Rome in early March 2025 (Leonardo). Anadolu Agency reported on June 17, 2026 that Italy’s Council of Ministers had cleared the deal under the country’s “Golden Power” rules, on condition that its international business be directed only toward countries aligned with EU and NATO policies. Quwa reported on July 23 that the companies declared the venture fully operational at the Farnborough air show and had begun building the first Astore Levante aircraft for the Italian Air Force; Leonardo CEO Lorenzo Mariani said “the first two or three aircraft are already under way.”

A robotic production line

Separately, Baykar signed a contract with the Italian company Gruppo Esea at the SAHA 2026 fair in Istanbul on May 7 for a robotic, automated production line for its drones, according to Anadolu Agency reports carried by Daily Sabah and TRT. Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar said the line would support production “in higher volumes in a more cost-effective and standardised manner” (TRT World). The reports say Bayraktar and Gruppo Esea CEO Alessandro Liberatore signed it and describe Gruppo Esea only as an Italian firm; the value, location and timeline of the line were not disclosed.

Related: Leonardo’s Kyiv subsidiary; EDGE completes its purchase of Italian engine maker CMD.

Sources and notes

Sources: Defense News, October 12, 2026; AeroTime, October 13; Aviation News, October 13; Leonardo, June 16, 2025; Anadolu Agency, June 17, 2026; Quwa, July 23; Daily Sabah/AA, May 7; TRT Haber/AA, May 7 (Turkish); TRT World/AA. Notes: Defense News spells the name once as “Astore Levant.” One search summary said EDGE’s chief executive signed the Gruppo Esea contract; the Anadolu-based reports Lens read attribute that signature to a separate Baykar–EDGE contract signed the same day. Ekathimerini spelled the company “Gruppo Esse.” Thumbnail photo: a Bayraktar Akinci drone of the Azerbaijani Air Force on a runway, 2024, Press Service of the President of Azerbaijan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; cropped. Illustrative stand-in: it shows a different Baykar drone, with its own Baykar markings, not the Astore Levante.

Image: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.