Italy’s Cavour Carrier to Deploy Türkiye’s Bayraktar TB3 Armed Drones for 24h Naval Strike.

Italy is moving to deploy the Baykar Bayraktar TB3 from its aircraft carrier Cavour, adding a carrier-based armed drone capability.

Italian Navy Chief Vice Adm. Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto confirmed the plan during a March 25 Senate hearing, describing TB3 as a Leonardo-integrated system capable of both surveillance and strike. The program signals a shift toward a layered carrier air wing, where unmanned systems handle endurance-heavy missions and routine engagements. With 24-hour endurance and precision-guided munitions, TB3 introduces a persistent sensor-shooter capability at sea without increasing fighter sortie demand.

Read also: Türkiye’s Bayraktar TB3 Proves Cold-Weather Carrier Operations in NATO Baltic Exercise.

Italy is preparing to operate Bayraktar TB3 armed naval drones from the aircraft carrier Cavour, a move that would expand the Italian Navy’s carrier-based surveillance and precision strike capabilities (Picture source: Italian Navy/ Baykar).

The hearing on 25 March 2026 was the admiral’s first parliamentary appearance since taking command on 6 November 2025, and his wording was notable: the TB3, acquired through Leonardo, could be integrated aboard Cavour and would provide both surveillance and the ability to carry armament. That matters because it signals not a simple UAV buy, but a deliberate shift toward a layered carrier air wing in which unmanned systems handle persistence and routine strike tasks while manned aviation is reserved for the most demanding missions.

The TB3 is well aligned with the geometry and operating logic of Cavour. Baykar’s current brochure describes a naval-capable UCAV with folding wings, autonomous takeoff and landing, LOS and BLOS communications, a triple-redundant autopilot architecture, retractable landing gear, 24+ hours of endurance, 110-knot cruise speed, 25,000-foot service ceiling, 20,000-foot operational altitude, a 195 hp turbodiesel engine, and a payload capacity of 280 kg. Those characteristics matter on a ship whose ski-jump runway is 183 meters long and whose hangar and flight deck must already support helicopters and F-35Bs; a compact, fold-wing UCAV is a much easier deck-management fit than a larger Western MALE system.

The armament side is what makes the TB3 more than a maritime scout. Baykar says the aircraft is configured to carry laser-guided, INS/GPS-guided, and IR-guided munitions, as well as mini cruise missiles, and company statements show live naval and shipboard strike testing with MAM-L. Roketsan’s published data gives a sense of the weapon logic: MAM-L is a 22 kg laser-guided munition with 15 km range, while the larger MAM-T weighs 95 kg and reaches 30+ km, and the UAV-122 air-to-surface supersonic missile weighs 81 kg with a quoted 55 km range. Put simply, the TB3 is not a heavy anti-ship missile truck; it is a precise, low-signature, multi-sortie strike asset optimized for small combatants, radars, air-defense nodes, fast attack craft, landing points, and other time-sensitive targets.

That payload-endurance balance defines the TB3’s tactical value. A carrier-launched drone that can stay airborne for more than a day gives the Italian Navy a persistent forward sensor and, when cleared, an organic shooter for low-to-medium intensity engagements. In practical terms, TB3s could maintain maritime picture generation over chokepoints, shadow suspicious surface contacts, cue ship or aircraft weapons over the horizon, or strike lightly defended targets ashore without launching an F-35B for every mission set. That is especially relevant for Mediterranean crisis response, sea control, embargo enforcement, expeditionary overwatch, and protection of naval task groups operating far from land-based air cover.

For Cavour specifically, the TB3 would create a more efficient high-low mix inside the air wing. Cavour is already Italy’s flagship STOVL carrier, with a 244-meter hull, 27,100-ton displacement, deck spots for simultaneous helicopter operations, and F-35B compatibility. Adding TB3 would not replace the F-35B; it would preserve it. The F-35B remains the platform for penetrating strike, high-end air defense support, and missions in contested electronic environments, while TB3 can absorb the long-haul surveillance burden and many lower-risk strike profiles. That division of labor increases sortie efficiency, extends presence, and reduces operating-cost pressure across the embarked air group.

The industrial dimension may be just as important as the operational one. Leonardo and Baykar first signed their partnership in March 2025 and then formally established the 50:50 LBA Systems joint venture in June 2025, based in Italy and tasked with design, development, production, maintenance, certification, payload integration, and manned-unmanned teaming functions. At the Paris Air Show, Roberto Cingolani said the TB3 would be produced in Italy and aimed for certification in 2026. For Rome, that means the program can potentially become an Italianized capability rather than a simple off-the-shelf import, with national control over mission systems, support, and NATO-oriented integration pathways.

It also fits the wider unmanned trajectory of the Italian Navy (Marina Militare). Berutti Bergotto highlighted ScanEagle operations from FREMM frigates and the recent acquisition of the Italian Revolution VTOL system, which can deploy a subsidiary strike drone. Seen together, those moves show an emerging Italian doctrine of distributed naval sensing and distributed lethality: frigates get tactical UAVs, smaller units get loitering effects, and the carrier gets a fixed-wing armed UCAV with real endurance. In that architecture, TB3 is the missing link between small shipboard drones and high-end manned combat aviation.

Beyond Türkiye, the only clearly identified foreign customer so far is Indonesia. Reporting from February 2025 said Baykar and Republikorp signed an agreement covering the export of 60 TB3s and joint production in Indonesia, making Jakarta the first announced export customer. By contrast, Italy is still best described as a prospective operator moving toward acquisition, not yet a publicly finalized export sale. In the sources reviewed for this article, no other confirmed TB3 foreign customer is identified beyond Indonesia, which makes any Italian decision strategically significant because it would give the aircraft its first European foothold.

The TB3 would give the Italian Navy a new layer of maritime combat power, not through raw striking mass but through persistence, responsiveness, and deck efficiency. In a Mediterranean theater shaped by drone proliferation, anti-access threats, and the need for constant sea surveillance, a carrier-capable armed UCAV offers Italy a practical way to widen its sensor-shooter envelope at lower cost than manned-only operations. If Rome follows through, Cavour will evolve from a STOVL carrier into a more modern mixed manned-unmanned aviation platform, and Italy will position itself at the leading edge of European naval drone warfare.