European defense companies must take a stronger lead in working together to help the continent become independent of the US security umbrella. leonardoCEO told CNBC.
Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawkbox Europe” on Wednesday after Leonardo’s annual results, Roberto Cingolani said European defense companies have “all the capabilities and technical skills” and should not wait for governments to fix the sector, warning that the sector is “fragmented”.
He said companies should take the lead in the process of “aggregation” and European governments would follow suit, adding that this approach would “bring huge benefits” and help companies become “better, faster and more profitable”.
He pointed to the partnership between Leonardo and Britain. BAE Systems and Japan Mitsubishi Heavy Industries As a co-founder of the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), which co-developed the Tempest stealth fighter.
Leonardo.
Leonardo also signed a joint agreement with the German defense giant line metal He said the company is also developing land defense systems and partnering with Turkish drone maker Baykar.
Last October, Leonardo also announced plans to combine space and satellite companies. airbus and Thales It is comparable to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
“I firmly believe that no one can succeed on their own,” Singorani told CNBC. “We need to synergize and understand that joining forces in a competitive industry like defense is fundamental to being successful and responding quickly to society’s needs.”
“tacit agreement”
US President Donald Trump’s efforts to annex Greenland have contributed to a rift in the NATO alliance, while the Ukraine war has focused attention on Europe’s defense.
The growing push for greater military sovereignty on the continent is currently underpinning what investors call a multi-year “megatrend” fueled by evolving geopolitical threats and doubts about America’s commitment to NATO.
“The tacit agreement was that the Americans were paying for Europe’s defense. After 80 years of peace, the Europeans were rather relaxed. We were mainly buying American technology. Rightly, the Americans want the Europeans to be more independent. That’s a reasonable demand,” he said.
“On the one hand, it means we need to complement American technology and develop our own technology under the umbrella of NATO,” he added.
“It’s not America versus Europe, it’s just working together on a more symmetrical basis.”
His comments came after Leonardo reported an 18% annualized rise in core profit to more than 1.75 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in its latest financial report on Wednesday.
Last year’s new orders were led by the aviation sector, increasing by 14.5% to 23.8 billion euros. Net debt remained at 1 billion euros, a 44% decrease for the Rome-headquartered and Milan-listed company.
The company’s shares ended trading down 3.5% on Wednesday following the results.
