Turkey's Baykar and Italy's Leonardo announced on March 6 that they are forming a joint venture that will turn out attack drones.

Their confirmation of the deal comes with defence companies seeking to quickly capitalise on the massive surge in European defence spending expected in response to the US sharply reducing its commitment to the defence of Ukraine and Nato allies in Europe. It is also in line with a growing conviction in Turkey that it will be indispensable in helping to build up European defence and security and in the wake of calls from US defence manufacturers made to “government efficiency” czar Elon Musk for the scrapping of bureaucracy that they say hinders their potential on the world military drone market.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturing venture will focus on a European drone market in defence that the two companies have estimated at $100bn over the next 10 years.

"Europe has a gap in unmanned technologies... and in complicated times like the one we are living in it is fundamental to guarantee global security," Leonardo chief executive Roberto Cingolani told a press conference, as reported by Reuters.

Baykar’s chairman Selcuk Bayraktar, who is a son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was reported as saying that the Italy-headquartered JV would offer an "opportunity to build aerial supremacy", given the expected key role that military drones would play in the future.

Baykar’s best-known drone is the Bayraktar TB2, which in recent years has featured in conflicts including those in Ukraine, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh and parts of Africa.

The JV will use the two companies' existing facilities. Leonardo and Baykar, meanwhile, have already made contact with their country’s armed forces, looking for immediate market demand.

In December, Baykar bought Italian aircraft producer Piaggio Aerospace.

Baykar produces both light and heavy drones. It is also developing autonomous jet-engine powered varieties, as well as autonomous air-to-air combat drones. Some military hardware experts predict a future in which such drones entirely end the need for piloted fighter jets.

It is thought that the JV's first product could be available in around 18 months. It will be based on the Bayraktar Akinci (“Raider”), a high-altitude, heavy lift drone developed by Baykar. The firm’s ambitions to make the Akinci the first UAV capable of launching a cruise missile have previously been reported by defence trade media.

Reuters also quoted Cingolani as saying the new venture would not attempt to rival Europe's Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) drone being developed with Airbus and Dassault Aviation.