The CEO of Baykar confirmed the intention to build a factory for the production of drones in Ukraine

Author:
Sofiia Telishevska
Date:

The Turkish company Baykar plans to complete the construction of a plant in Ukraine within two years.

This was stated by the companyʼs general director Haluk Bayraktar on the sidelines of the SAHA EXPO Defense and Aerospace exhibition.

"Currently, we have an architectural project — the detailed design phase has been completed. We will move towards construction... We would like to complete it within two years," he noted.

Ukraine occupies an important place in Baykarʼs supply chain, as the companyʼs two newest drones, Akıncı and Kızılelma, use engines from “Motor Sich” and “Ivchenko-Progress”.

The use of TB2 drones in the war in Ukraine expanded the portfolio of orders for these UAVs in the world. Currently, they are sold to 24 countries, including Poland, which is a member of NATO.

According to Bayraktar, this year such demand will bring the company about a billion dollars in export sales — one and a half times more than last year. In 2023, the company expects to double it.

The company plans to invest the received money in the expansion of production lines.

Currently, the company produces 20 units of TB2 nga per month, and in 2023 it plans to reach the mark of 30 RPA per month.

The general director of Baykar also said that by the end of 2023, the company plans to complete testing of the TB3 version.

  • On February 3, 2022, Ukraine and Turkey signed an agreement on expanding the joint production of unmanned aerial vehicles. It provides for the creation of a factory for the production of Bayraktar combat drones in Ukraine.
  • The Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said at the time that Turkish drones would be equipped with engines from the Ukrainian company “Motor Sich”.
  • On September 9, Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said that the Bayraktar strike drone factory to be built in Ukraine "is subject to demilitarization."