Baykar Establishing Drone Manufacturing Plant in Ukraine

The head of the Turkish company Baykar, Haluk Bayraktar, confirmed that construction is already underway in Ukraine, near Kyiv, for a plant to produce Bayraktar drones in accordance with agreements reached between the two countries. He revealed this to Reuters during the World Arms Exhibition in Riyadh.

According to Haluk Bayraktar, it will take about 12 months to complete the construction of the plant. Once construction is finished, the company plans to proceed with installing equipment and organizing the production structure. The head of Baykar also noted that the plant plans to produce approximately 120 drones per year, but the specific model - TB2 or TB3 - has not yet been chosen.

"The plant in Ukraine will be large, and we plan to employ around 500 people," Haluk Bayraktar said.

Responding to questions about the full-scale war in Ukraine and potential threats to Baykar's production security, Bayraktar stated that the plans "continue to progress" and "nothing can stop them."

It is worth noting that in June 2023, the Baykar company received licensing permits from the Turkish government to produce Bayraktar TB2 and Akıncı drones in Ukraine. Construction of the plant began the following month. The construction was facilitated by the signing of a framework agreement between the governments of Ukraine and Turkey on cooperation in the aerospace industry in February 2022.

The Gaze publication previously reported that ordinary civilians in Ukraine are helping to manufacture 1 million FPV drones to combat the Russian occupation army. FPV drones are currently in high demand on the battlefield, as they allow operators to conduct aerial photography in real-time as if they were actually piloting the aircraft.

Therefore, support for this strategic goal is growing among the civilian population of Ukraine. Assistance includes the independent assembly of drones and their transfer to the military.