The agreement provides for research and development activities in geographical areas of common interest, with the goal of replicating BF Spa's sustainable agro-industrial model and using Leonardo's digital and satellite technologies to monitor the environment.

As Leonardo's Chairman Stefano Pontecorvo emphasises, “Today, we can no longer talk about security by limiting it to Defence: we must talk about global security. A term that means energy, infrastructure and even food security. This agreement puts our capabilities at the disposal of the agricultural sector, enabling it to spread a more technological agriculture and combat climate change, also making use of artificial intelligence.”

According to Chairman Pontecorvo, the stimulus for this collaboration, “which has already been underway for some time, came from the Mattei Plan. BF has a very important project in North Africa, to the development of which our Group can provide support, from an Italian system perspective. And we are already thinking of extending cooperation to other promising areas.”

“From Space,” explains Stefano Pontecorvo, “it is possible to understand if a crop has been affected by some pest. At that point, the farmer can only intervene on the affected portion of the plantation, without having to chemically treat the entire area. But there is more. Again using satellites, it is possible to map the land and manage water flows. This is an experience that Leonardo is pursuing in South America, in support of initiatives launched with development banks. Experiences that the company will share with BF.”