Turkiye’s drone maker Baykar is devoting resources to bring more component production in-house amid industry supply chain pressures, and will invest $300 million to develop jet engines, its chief executive has told Reuters.
Turkish-made Baykar drones have gained prominence globally after being used by Ukraine’s military against Russian forces as well as in campaigns in Azerbaijan and North Africa. The company has become one of the most prolific drone exporters worldwide with its light TB2 and heavy Akinci drones sold to 35 countries.
Baykar is currently focused on bringing production of as many components in-house as possible, CEO Haluk Bayraktar said in an interview on the sidelines of the SAHA defence exhibition in Istanbul on Wednesday, shortly before a deadly attack on Turkiye’s aerospace manufacturer TUSAS.
“With supply chain continuity a major issue worldwide, we’re focused on in-house manufacturing,” said Bayraktar. “The missing piece is the engine and now we are beginning our own development project.”
Baykar will invest $300m over the next five years to develop a turboprop engine for the Akinci drone. It will follow this with a turbofan engine for Kizilelma, an unmanned air-to-air combat vehicle currently undergoing flight trials.