FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) – Italian aerospace and defence group Leonardo is still in talks to work out the terms of planned alliances and joint ventures with its European peers, Chief Executive Roberto Cingolani said on Monday, despite European manufacturers struggling to keep pace with international rivals.
Negotiations with Airbus and Thales “are moving forward,” Roberto Cingolani said at an event in Florence.
In July, Leonardo confirmed that it was in discussions with the two French companies to establish possible alliances and exploit their synergies to strengthen the European space industry.
The Italian group also plans to finalise by September a joint venture with the German company Rheinmetall, which is to produce tanks and other land defence systems.
The European Union wants to strengthen the space strategy of the Old Continent, threatened by American and Chinese launcher technology.
In July, Roberto Cingolani said Leonardo’s new strategic plan would be ready by the end of the month. The company is “slightly ahead of schedule” in developing a strategy for its new space division, he said Monday.
Leonardo manufactures satellites, orbital infrastructure and sensors and manages satellite services as well as propulsion and launch systems.
(Reporting by Silvia Ognibene, written by Cristina Carlevaro; Florence Loève, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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