Leonardo plans upgrades for its UK operations, as leaders meet

ROME — Italian defense group Leonardo will invest £435 million ($575 million) in the UK this year, including upgrades to its helicopter production line and funding for laser and quantum technology work, the UK government said on Monday.

The announcement was made as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni during a visit to Rome to discuss the Ukraine war and cooperation on tackling illegal migration.

The two leaders also agreed that the Italian Army and Navy will take part in UK Carrier Strike Group Operations in the Indo-Pacific next year.

Some £35 million of Leonardo’s total £435m UK investment in 2024 is being spent at the firm’s helicopter plant at Yeovil in the UK, where it will launch its “Single Site Logistics Hub” plan on Wednesday which aims to increase efficiencies at the sprawling site.

New investment is also going into apprenticeships, design capabilities, robots and 3D printing at Yeovil, a spokesperson said.

Other funding will support work undertaken by Leonardo in the UK on sensors for the sixth-generation Global Combat Air Program fighter.

Worth up to 30% of the value of the fighter, the radar and other sensors are a key element of the fighter being built by the UK, Italy and Japan.

Leonardo said it was also investing in the greater digitalization of its UK business, making it able to “offer a range of digital and data products and services to customers.”

Investment in research work covered “laser, radio frequency and quantum technologies,” it added.

Starmer’s trip to Rome to meet with Meloni was his first since being elected in July as the head of a Labour government which is expected to be keener on cooperating in Europe than its Conservative predecessor.

Stefano Pontecorvo, the chairman of Leonardo in Italy who took part in a meeting of business leaders with prime minister Starmer in Rome on Monday, appeared to think so.

“It is clear that the prime minister represents a pronounced change in approach for the UK and its relationship with the European Union,” he said. “Leonardo’s presence in the UK is underpinned by transnational collaboration at a governmental level, which also supports cooperation at an industrial level. I look forward to working closely with the prime minister as we continue to invest in the UK and support the defense of Europe,” he added.