Bayraktar plans to manufacture unmanned fighter jets in Ukraine
ECONOMICHNA PRAVDA – FRIDAY, 12 AUGUST 2022, 15:51
Haluk Bayraktar, the CEO of Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar Makina, plans to produce Bayraktar Kizilelma unmanned fighter jets, as well as Bayraktar TB2 and Bayraktar Akinci drones, in Ukraine in the future.
He said this in an interview with the Come Back Alive Foundation.
"Now we are working on the unmanned fighter project, which is very new and we are solely financing it and it will be a new league, actually, in the unmanned systems arena," Haluk Bayraktar said.
The company is closely cooperating with Ukraine on this project and the Bayraktar Akinci project.
"Akinci has made its first flight with a Ukrainian engine, and now we are integrating more, including various Ukrainian engines," the Baykar CEO said.
He added that Baykar has started building a factory in Ukraine, a research centre and an advanced manufacturing centre where the Turkish company wants to produce all the systems.
"Not just the fuselage, but the electronics, the software, everything we do here. We had that vision. In that regard we have our investment plans moving ahead right now, and so for these agreements we are in the project planning phase. Soon we want to start on the real, physical investment as well," he emphasised.
The company already has a technical engineering team working to support Ukraine. There are also plans to make Ukraine a manufacturing base.
"This is one of our ideals. Our wish is that one day at the factory in Ukraine we will be able to build Bayraktar TB2, Bayraktar Akinci, and also the new Bayraktar Kizilelma, an unmanned fighter," Bayraktar concluded.
Background:
- The construction of the Bayraktar attack drone factory by the Turkish company Baykar may take several months; it is planned to be launched in 2023.
- The Turkish company Baykar - the manufacturer of Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles - has already registered in Ukraine and purchased a plot of land for construction.
- In February, during a meeting between the presidents in Kyiv, Ukraine and Turkey signed an agreement expanding Baykar’s production of unmanned aerial vehicles in Ukraine.
- Haluk Bayraktar, CEO of Baykar, and Taras Chmut, director of the Come Back Alive Foundation, signed a memorandum on further partnership in Istanbul.
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