The Italian-British joint venture MGI Italia, created to produce high-tech UAS systems, faces a reversal from Modenese partners and local protests. The production site will not be in Emilia.
The combination of Formula 1 speed and remote piloted aircraft technology seemed perfect. At the beginning of June 2026, the scenario announced in Rome at the British Embassy had all the makings of an industrial revolution: the birth of MGI Italia, a joint venture between the British engineering giant MGI Engineering (led by former F1 technical director Mike Gascoyne) and the Italian Vigilar Group (an intelligence and security company). The declared goal: to produce up to 200 drones per month with an estimated unit value of around 500,000 euros, leveraging the expertise of the Modena Motor Valley.
However, less than a month after the announcement, the "Drone Valley" project in Modena experienced a drastic slowdown, turning into a real corporate and logistical mystery.
The corporate reversal in Modena
The initial setup of the company saw strong involvement from prominent figures in Modenese mechanical engineering, including Christian Storci (president of Atlantic Fluid Tech) through the holding company Rosstar. The initial hypothesis involved the use or supply chain of the San Cesario sul Panaro plants for the assembly of the vehicles.
However, between June 12 and 28, 2026, the scenario radically changed. Storci and the Emilian partners sold 100% of their shares to Vigilar Group, completely exiting the business. A move that came amid strong political pressures and anti-militarist demonstrations in the area, with the Rete NoBavaglio Emilia-Romagna and several regional representatives describing the military conversion of the motor district as "surreal".
The official statement: production moves to the Center-South
Clarification came with the official denial from Vigilar Group, which redrew the boundaries of the industrial plan, excluding Modena from operational activities:
"Any references to Modena should not be understood as indicative of the company's legal headquarters nor, much less, as identifiers of a production or operational assembly site. [...] Various production areas located in Central and Southern Italy are currently being evaluated."
Sources close to the dossier indicate that the production and integration of advanced systems may now look with strong interest towards the aerospace district of Campania, where the necessary logistical and authorization infrastructures for managing dual-use and military technologies are already present.
The specifications of the vehicle: the "AMUS" project
Despite the geographical shift, the technical details of the industrial program remain of very high strategic profile and confirm the integration of concepts derived from motorsport:
- Platform: Developed within the "AMUS" project, funded with 2.2 million euros.
- Propulsion: Dual gas turbine Argive A1100.
- Structure: Fuselage entirely in composite materials (carbon fiber) and 3D printed nose.
- Performance: Declared autonomy exceeding 1,000 km at cruising speed, designed for fast cargo missions and special defense applications.
The push towards shortening research and development cycles, directly borrowed from Formula 1 methodologies, remains the cornerstone of the partnership with the United Kingdom. However, the Modenese ecosystem of the Motor Valley for now preserves its purely civilian vocation linked to luxury automotive, rejecting alignment with the Defense supply chain. MGI's high-tech drones will still speak Italian, but their wings will be assembled elsewhere.
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