Angelo Vallerani: “Our technological capabilities are among the best in the world. We are enablers of progress, development, sustainability and security. Our companies are a treasure chest of those skills necessary to give life to the mobility of the future and new connection systems”
Not just the production activities of planes, helicopters and satellite systems which employ 39% of the 16,500 workers in the Lombardy aerospace industry. But also those linked to the development and creation of avionics systems, structures, special materials, which employ 30% of the regional workforce; those of mechanics, components and sub-systems which represent 18%; those of generic materials and services which carve out the remaining, albeit high, share of 13%. It was a full immersion in the varied, complex and complete reality represented by the Lombardy Aerospace Cluster which saw the Councilor for Economic Development of the Lombardy Region, Guido Guidesi, as the protagonist. First the meeting in Milan with the Milanese company in the space sector, OHB Italia, then the transfer to the Vergiate factories of Leonardo’s Helicopter Division. Finally, direct discussion with the entire Board of Directors of the Lombardy Aerospace Cluster and the leaders of the Union of Industrialists of the Province of Varese which takes care of the organizational Secretariat of the Cluster itself.
A whole day of comparison with one of the most technologically advanced industrial sectors in Europe. 6 billion in annual turnover, a share of over 30% of the total national exports of the sector, 220 companies, including prime contractors of the caliber of Leonardo, OHB Italia, Thales Alesia Space and Thales, and the so-called “prime suppliers level” representatives from Secondo Mona, Elettronica Aster, Aerea, Ase, Logic and Mecaer Aviation Group. To which we must add the 190 small and medium-sized enterprises which represent 34% of the employees. Names and numbers which, within the Lombardy Aerospace Cluster, seek to summarize a common growth path in which universities also participate (the Polytechnic of Milan, the LIUC – Cattaneo University, the University of Pavia and Bicocca) and research centers (the Cnr – National Research Council and the National Institute of Astrophysics).
“It was a fruitful day during which we were able to show Councilor Guidesi the technological capabilities of our industry. We are enablers of progress, development, sustainability and security. Our companies are a treasure chest of those skills necessary to give life to the mobility of the future and new connection systems already under study”, stated the President of the Lombardia Aerospace Cluster, Angelo Vallerani, at the end of the visit.
To industrial projects involving the sectors of rotary wing, fixed wing and increasingly important space activities – which by their nature are interdisciplinary, international, multi-sectoral and positioned on the frontier of knowledge thanks to Lombard companies that have the ability to develop satellites, to put them into orbit and manage the related services – there is also the theme of new mobility.
“The future is around the corner, but our companies are ready to face all the challenges that the development of flight poses to us on the most diverse fronts. The role of our Cluster – explained Vallerani – is to bring together and put into contact with each other the best skills in the world that the Lombard industrial system already possesses today in those areas that will radically change the habits of moving things and people in the coming years. The aerospace district of Lombardy is internationally famous, and we ourselves reiterate this on every occasion, for the technological and production equipment that allows it to have within a radius of a few kilometers all the know-how necessary to carry out from A to Z , from the smallest bolt, to the finished product, an entire plane, helicopter and satellite. This translates into widespread knowledge that will allow us, within a radius of a few kilometers, to activate in the coming years also those synergies necessary to develop increasingly sustainable, intelligent and interconnected mobility and territorial control systems. In a word: modern, to the benefit of the entire community and the economic competitiveness of the entire territory, as well as its safety thanks also to the great capabilities of our companies in terms of space technologies and in the collection, management and analysis of satellite data .”.
“The aerospace industry – commented the President of the Union of Industrialists of the Province of Varese, Roberto Grassi – has always been a pillar of our local economy. However, not only jobs and the production of wealth that go beyond the narrow, albeit already broad, perimeter of the sector depend on its growth. The protection of those space and aeronautical technologies destined, more than others, to impact in the coming years on our daily activities, on our safety, on the development of our territories also depends on the valorisation of this technological heritage: from agriculture to logistics; from smart cities to travel. Hundreds of SMEs are also a treasure chest of this strategic know-how.”
Gallarate, 8 July 2021
