Leonardo’s CEO, Roberto Cingolani, intends to push for more intense cooperation within the industry.
“We want to drive alliances in the European defense industry forward” he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. European companies may be large, but not as large as, for example, US-American companies. His company has therefore set the strategic goal of creating “European giants based on cooperation.”
Leonardo signed the agreements for a joint venture with the Düsseldorf-based tank manufacturer Rheinmetall in October and is a major shareholder of around 23% in the Munich-based sensor and defense expert Hensoldt. Additionally, the Italians are involved in the development of fighter jets such as the F-35 and Eurofighter.
According to Cingolani, Europe “invests a lot in its defense, but not as efficiently as it could.” The problem is the inefficiency of national defense expenditures. “It’s not how much we invest that’s important, but how we invest it” the manager from Rome said. “Everyone works 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 a “big step forward” but now a common European defense budget is needed to bundle the investments. “You can pour a lot of water into a leaky barrel, but it will always leak out again” he said. The goal should be to “move from financing through national budgets to a European fund.” This is “no trivial matter” and will not happen overnight. However, “we don’t have ten more years for such steps.”
Leonardo is active in areas such as electronics, cybersecurity, and aeronautics and space. “If Leonardo were a sportsman, we would probably be a decathlete” Cingolani said. “We do high jump, long jump, 100-meter sprint, shot put.” In the decathlon, “we may not be world champions in any of these disciplines, but we’re always among the top five, and most importantly, we can do everything.