Italy's Leonardo signs MoU with Turkey's Baykar for drone joint venture

Italy's Leonardo announced on Thursday it would form a joint venture for drones with Turkey's Baykar, as the state-controlled defence company seeks to grow through alliances to take advantage of rising defence spending in Europe.

The two companies said in a statement they estimated the European market for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to be worth $100 billion over the next 10 years. It added that the joint venture would be based in Italy.