Armaments industry Defense company Leonardo promotes European alliances
Roberto Cingolani, head of the Italian defense company Leonardo, wants to promote more intensive cooperation in the industry. "We want to promote alliances in the European defense industry," Cingolani told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" newspaper.
02.01.2025, 10:25
SDA
Although European companies are large, they are nowhere near as large as US companies, for example. His company therefore aims to create "European giants" based on cooperation.
With almost 60,000 employees and a turnover of more than 15 billion euros, Leonardo is one of the world's largest defense companies and is active in the fields of electronics, cyber security and aerospace, among others. In October, the Italians signed contracts for a joint venture with German tank manufacturer Rheinmetall and are a major shareholder in Munich-based sensor technology expert Hensoldt with a stake of around 23%. The Italians are also involved in the construction of the F-35 and Eurofighter fighter jets. Switzerland has also ordered 36 of the F-35.
Cingolani emphasized that Europe is not investing so little in its defence. However, the problem is the efficiency of national defense spending. "It is not how much we invest that is important, but how we invest," said the manager. Everyone is working on their own strategy and their own weapon systems and platforms, and this work needs to be better coordinated. The appointment of an EU Commissioner for Defense is an important step forward, but now a common European defense budget is also needed to pool investments.
The aim must be to switch from financing through national budgets to a European fund. This would not happen overnight. However, there is no longer ten years to take such steps.
