Leonardo Helicopters, new agreements for the made-in-Italy supply chain

The Leonardo Group's Growing Together programme has landed in Liguria, the tenth Italian region to be involved. With this project, the company aims to increase and develop a national supply chain dedicated to civil helicopters, with a view to enhancing Italian excellence while reducing dependence on the foreign supply chain. And if about a hundred Ligurian companies took part in the programme's presentation event, held yesterday in Genoa (at the headquarters of the Liguria Region), at a national level results are beginning to arrive from the territories that have already launched the project.

The scouting phase of Crescere insieme, explains Piero Rancilio, head of the programme, 'involved around 700 companies in 10 regions - Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, Lazio, Campania, Apulia and now also Liguria - in one of the most extensive industrial reconnaissance exercises ever conducted in our sector. The selection was carried out with the support of regions, districts, associations and Confindustria, evaluating technologies, production capacities and growth potential of SMEs. From this analysis, 150 companies suitable for the next steps emerged. The audience is heterogeneous: many do not belong to the aerospace and defence sector, others were not suppliers of Leonardo Helicopters, and all of them will develop new components for their portfolio.

Within this perimeter, Rancilio continues, '12 agreements have been closed by 2025 and another 50 are in the process of being closed by 2027. The 12 finalised this year involve companies from six regions: Veneto, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, Piedmont and Campania, and are worth €7 million in joint investments, between Leonardo and the companies. When fully operational, the projects will generate around 21 million euro per year in revenues for the companies. Overall, between 2025 and 2029, Leonardo estimates to close 62 agreements, totalling 46 million euros of joint investment. When fully operational, between 2029 and 2030, these projects will produce about 130 million euro per year in revenues for the participating companies, bringing back to Italy industrial volumes currently entrusted to foreign suppliers'. On the other hand, he goes on to emphasise, 'over 40% of the companies involved report the need for subsidised credit to support investments. A team game between industrial players, institutions, and the banking system will therefore be essential: the sooner the financing arrives, the sooner we can accelerate the volumes of revenues to full capacity'.

In order to fully understand the value of the operation, it is necessary to bear in mind that the Helicopters Division buys approximately EUR 3 billion worth of supplies every year, 65% of which are now from international suppliers. The programme aims to bring more than EUR 1 billion per year of critical supplies back to Italy, the demand for which is set to grow by 25% over the next five years.

"Entering Leonardo's supply chain," emphasises Alessio Piana, the Liguria Region's delegated councillor for Economic Development, "means engaging a value chain that has a 30-year horizon and can generate qualified employment, investment and innovation in our region. Leonardo is not only looking for traditional aerospace and defence suppliers, but also for companies that today operate in other sectors but have transferable technological skills. This is very interesting for Liguria, where we have a strong tradition in mechanics, innovative materials, electronics, precision machining and ICT'.