Founded

1948

Headquarters

Rome

Key People

Alessandro Profumo (CEO)

Number of Employees

49,500

Phone Number

+39 06 324731

Website

Leonardo Company

Leonardo

Leonardo is an Italian multinational aerospace and defense organization headquartered in Rome. It is one of the world's largest global defense contractors and manufactures a wide variety of rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft for both civil and military applications. 

Formerly Finmeccanica, Leonardo was founded in 1948 as the mechanical engineering division of the state-run Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI). Agusta represented the rotorcraft branch of the business, which began developing and manufacturing helicopters in 1952 under license from Bell. 

Agusta first flew the A109 in 1976. A lightweight, twin-engined utility helicopter, the A109 has proven to be the company’s best-seller and is still manufactured today.

Leonardo’s legacy companies underwent frequent reorganizations, mergers, and divestments from 1960 through the 1980s. In 1992, Agusta became a partner in NHIndustries, a joint venture between Eurocopter and Fokker. This trio went on to develop the NH-90 helicopter. In 2000, Finmeccanica and British manufacturer GKN agreed to merge their rotorcraft production branches (Agusta and GKN-Westland Helicopters), forming AgustaWestland. Originally a 50/50 merger, Finmeccanica acquired GKN’s share of the venture in 2004, becoming the sole owner of the AgustaWestland brand. 

Finmeccanica was restructured into seven business units in 2014 and changed its name to Leonardo on Jan. 1, 2017.

Leonardo currently produces the AW109, AW119, AW139, AW169, and AW189 for civilian applications, with several military rotorcraft such as the SW4 and AW109M rounding out the company’s helicopter line. 

Leonardo employs roughly 49,500 people in more than 150 global locations.