Turkey: In two years, the factory of the defense company Baykar in Ukraine is expected to be completed

Within the next two years it plans to complete its construction factory production in Ukraine by the Turkish defense company Baykar, according to what its managing director stated

The remotely piloted aircraft supplied by Baykar to Ukraine were instrumental in its defense Ukrainian against Russian armor and air defense systems in the first weeks of the Russian invasion.

As part of an agreement between Turkey and Ukraine, signed just before the Russian invasion on February 24, Baykar agreed to build its second production plant in Ukraine.

Chief executive Haluk Bayraktar told Reuters on Thursday that plans were moving forward despite some obstacles created by the Russian invasion. “Our plan is moving forward,” he said on the sidelines of the SAHA defense exhibition in Istanbul.

“Now we have the architectural plan. The detailed design phase is over. And we will proceed with the construction … within two years we would like to finish it.”

Ukraine figures prominently in Baykar’s supply chain, particularly with the new Akinci drone and Kizilelma, or Golden Apple, unmanned combat vehicle under development. Both use Ukrainian engines from Motor Sich and Ivchenko-Progress.

The development of the Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle has been instrumental in conflicts from Syria to Azerbaijan to Ukraine, putting Baykar in the global spotlight and turning it into a major industrial and export company.

The TB2 is sold in 24 countries including NATO member Poland, while the company has signed agreements with five countries to export its much bigger brother, the Akinci.

While the TB2 can carry up to 150kg of missiles or equipment the Akinci, first delivered to the Turkish armed forces last year, can fly much higher and take off at ten times its weight.

Orders are expected to reach about $1 billion this year, Bayraktar said, about 50 percent higher than last year’s $650 million with another 50 percent expected in 2023.

Research and development for the Kizilelma fast combat drone will also be accelerated, Bayraktar said.

Kizilelma will be able to be launched from and launched on short runway aircraft carriers, with its maiden flight expected in the next few months.

The TB3, a more short-runway-capable version of the TB2, is expected to complete its test phase by the end of 2023, Baykar’s chief executive said.