00:00The 55th International Paris Air Show opened on Monday.
00:03Major aerospace companies, government officials, high-level officials are participating in the event.
00:08But the spotlight on the recent joint venture sign between Turkey's Bikar Technologies and Italy's Leonardo.
00:15To discuss this further, I am joined by Leonardo's chairman, Stefano Pontecorvo.
00:20Mr. Pontecorvo, please let me start with the LBA systems.
00:24What are we expecting from this and what kind of objectives you are expecting from the joint venture signed with Bikar?
00:31First of all, let me say that we are very proud that we have been chosen by Bikar.
00:37We have chosen Bikar, but Bikar has chosen us as a partner.
00:40It is a terrific company, probably the best in the world.
00:44And we are so committed to the partnership that we have today for the first time ever in our history a common stand with another company.
00:53And that company is Bikar.
00:54What we are expecting, we are expecting to become a leading company in the drone space and then we will build on that.
01:01Together we will make an extraordinary product and, you know, in these times it is the technology that ensures success.
01:10And I'm sure that we will be at the cutting edge of technology and we'll have a very convincing product for European and world markets.
01:19Are there any Bikar products which will be at the forefront of this joint venture, like Akinci maybe?
01:25Akinci, TB3 and TB2 start with and we have what in our own drone, which is Minach.
01:31They will be certified in Italy and then in Europe.
01:33And then we will see what is, you know, it is a very, we are two very dynamic companies.
01:40Technology moves very fast.
01:42So we are starting with a fixed platform to be able to start with these three, these four drones, the UAVs I was talking about.
01:51And then we can extend it to what our teams will think is feasible.
01:55How it will contribute in a maximum way.
01:57You know, we work with a lot of Turkish companies as Leonardo.
02:00We are very proud, as I said, of working with Bikar.
02:06I'd say, look, the sky is the limit.
02:08We are starting off with a very clear plan.
02:14We are open to all other sectors.
02:16Bikar is, like us, very committed to technology.
02:20It's very committed to research and development.
02:22So together we can do great things and it will contribute very significantly to European defense in a field in which Europe, starting with the UAVs, of course, in which Europe is lagging behind.
