Leonardo Helicopters, supply agreement with Isoclima of Veneto

Leonardo's helicopter division has signed an agreement at Palazzo Balbi, the headquarters of the Veneto regional government, for the entry into the supply chain of Isoclima of Padua, a company based in Este that operates in the design and production of transparent surfaces for the yachting, architecture, automotive and aerospace sectors. The company is the first to be selected within the Growing Together programme, launched in 2024 by Leonardo, through its helicopter division. A project that bets on the Italian industrial fabric, with the aim of flanking the existing production chain with a new ecosystem of Italian companies, capable of reducing foreign dependence, enhancing the value of Made in Italy, at a time when the defence sector needs precisely this.

Isoclima, with about a thousand employees worldwide and factories in Veneto, Croatia, and the United States, has a turnover of around 150 million euro and will produce two different types of curved glass (also using polycarbonate) for two of the main helicopters marketed by Leonardo worldwide. 'We are ready,' explained Liviana Forza, the company's CEO, 'to conclude the design, construction and testing phase of the first prototypes as early as 2026, to proceed with the supply immediately afterwards. We are a company that has been betting on innovation since its foundation some 50 years ago. The two programmes under this agreement, in particular, have involved a series of investments, both in the supply chain of basic materials, and in a new chemical hardening, specifically designed for the specific needs of the product. We are entering the supply chain of an already existing and highly successful programme, strengthened by an entrepreneurial approach that combines technology with know-how and the usual attention to customer needs'.

Gian Piero Cutillo, managing director of Leonardo's helicopter division, emphasises, in turn, that 'this supply agreement is the first of a series that we will sign from here on: we will already be in another region tomorrow to sign another agreement. We are convinced that the industrial fabric of the Veneto region and the aerospace supply chain present in this region have all the right cards for the signing of new agreements. In fact, I make no secret of the fact that there are, to date, interlocutions in this sense with companies from Veneto'.

Cutillo added that Leonardo's helicopter division is 'working to diversify the supply chain, looking at the potential of the Italian industrial fabric. The glass components, which are the subject of this agreement, are currently purchased abroad, and we are happy to be able to double our sources of supply for a component that has considerable technological value. This is a strategy that not only gives the company an industrial advantage, but also provides the Italian industrial fabric with an additional stimulus for production and technological growth. Leonardo, whose civil helicopters worldwide have a market share of around 38-39%, is a leader because it innovates, and our suppliers will be stimulated to do even better, to accompany the development of the entire supply chain.

For his part, the President of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, emphasised that the organisation has 'contributed, with the support of its structures, to the development, competitiveness and visibility of the Veneto aerospace district. A technological and industrial reality that has 260 companies, 5 thousand employees, and a turnover in 2024 of over EUR 2.2 billion, with a growth of 22% compared to the previous year. As a region, we have allocated resources for research and innovation amounting to 185 million'.