Defense: Defense company Leonardo is promoting European alliances

The head of the Italian defense company Leonardo, Roberto Cingolani, wants to work for more intensive cooperation within the industry. “We want to promote alliances in the European defense industry,” Cingolani told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. Europe’s companies are large, but not nearly as big as US companies. His company therefore aims to create “European giants” that are based on cooperation.

With almost 60,000 employees and more than 15 billion euros in sales, Leonardo is one of the world’s largest defense companies and is active in the areas of electronics, cybersecurity and aerospace, among other things. The Italians signed contracts for a joint venture with the Düsseldorf tank manufacturer Rheinmetall in October and are a major shareholder in the Munich sensor technology expert Hensoldt with around 23 percent. The Italians are also involved in the construction of the F-35 and Eurofighter fighter jets.

Cingolani emphasized that Europe is investing quite a bit in its defense. The problem, however, is the efficiency of national defense spending. “It’s not how much we invest that’s important, but how we invest,” said the manager. Everyone is working on their own strategy and their own weapon systems and platforms; this work needs to be better coordinated. The appointment of an EU Commissioner for Defense is an important step forward; a common European defense budget is now needed to bundle investments.

The aim must be to switch from financing through national budgets to a European fund. This doesn’t happen overnight. However, we don’t have ten more years to take such steps.