Requests Receivership Amid Lagging Drone Sales

Piaggio Aerospace has requested that the Italian government place the company in receivership due to "the state of insolvency of the company."

Defense News reports that Piaggio released a statement last Thursday saying "The prolonged uncertainty and present market conditions make the company no longer financially sustainable."

Unions and politicians are blaming a delay in orders for the company's P.1HH Hammerhead UAV for the financial situation. The UAE signed a contract in 2016 to become the launch customer for the Hammerhead. The first deliveries were scheduled for late this year. Italy had initially planned to be the launch customer for the Hammerhead, but the government decided it wanted a longer-range version of the aircraft, which led to the development of the P2.HH.

Meanwhile, orders for Piaggio's distinctive P.180 airplane have continued to decline.

Italian politics and a change in government delayed funding for the P.2HH order, and some officials raised concerns about a possible overlap between the Hammerhead and the Euromale drone under development with European partners.

It all culminated last Thursday when the company asked the government to place it into special administration. The FIM-CISL Union placed the blame on the delay in orders for the P.2HH drone, and said the government should find new investors to shore up the company until those orders can be pushed through. The Democratic party, which was voted out of power in March, blamed the new government for "being unable to take a decision in all these months on the ... acquisition of the P.2HH."

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report