Turkey’s Superstar Drone Company Begins Building Factory in Ukraine

Turkish superstar drone manufacturer Baykar has broken ground on a new factory near Kyiv, Ukraine, that will manufacture the company’s popular armed drones, which the Ukrainians have used to great effect against Russian invaders.

Baykar’s drones became a hot commodity after notable battlefield success in theaters such as Syria, Libya, and the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict of 2020, but videos of the Ukrainians using Bayraktar TB2 drones to wipe out Russian armor and artillery in 2021 were the best advertising the Turkish firm could have asked for.

The Ukrainians were effusive in their praise for the Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which is less expensive than drones with comparable capabilities, highly reliable, easy to maintain, and best of all, easy to launch. Ukrainian troops perfected hit-and-run raids with the TB2, which could be easily transported by small trucks and launched in a matter of moments.

CEO Haluk Bayraktar said in March 2022 that sales were booming after Ukraine embraced the TB2, giving Baykar enough capital to begin competing with China for drone business across Asia. Bayraktar noted that China was nervous about selling drones to countries it might come into conflict with, leaving the Turkish company with a huge market to exploit.

Turkish drones were so effective against Russia that Vladimir Putin pressured Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to shut down Bayraktar sales to the Ukrainians. The designer of the drone, Selcuk Bayraktar, is married to Erdogan’s daughter.

Erdogan evidently chose not to use either his authority or personal influence with the Bayraktar brothers to block sales to Ukraine. Putin then switched tactics and tried to convince Baykar to build a drone factory in Russia.

Instead, Ukrainian officials announced in August 2022 that Baykar would build a factory near Kyiv, to supply both the Ukrainians and dozens of other international customers. The factory was planned even before the Russian invasion began, as Baykar signed a joint production deal with a Ukrainian state firm in 2019.

Halcuk Bayraktar insisted he would never sell drones to Russia because he and his company “support Ukraine, support its sovereignty, its resistance for its independence.”

“Our factory is being built,” Halcuk Bayraktar said of the Ukrainian facility on Tuesday, while visiting the World Defense Show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“We need about 12 months to finish construction and then we will move on to internal machinery, equipment, and organizational structure,” he said.

Bayraktar said the Kyiv factory would “employ around 500 people” and produce about 120 units per year, possibly including the new TB3 model. The TB3 can be controlled over longer distances, carries more advanced “smart” munitions, and can take off from very small runways thanks to its foldable wings – a feature that will allow it to be launched from ships, such as Turkey’s upcoming amphibious assault flagship, TCG Anadolu.

Asked by reporters if Russian attacks might disrupt the project, he replied that plans for the Ukraine factory are “fully moving ahead” and “nothing” can stop them.

Bayraktar also said his company plans to open a factory in Saudi Arabia within two years, to produce a different line of drones, the Bayraktar Akinci. 

The Akinci is a much larger UAV with a longer range and a heavier payload. The vaunted TB2 is a precision strike weapon, while the Akinci can carry out longer bombing missions, disrupt enemy electronics, and even engage in air-to-air combat.

Haluk Bayraktar said in October that the Ukrainian government is considering purchasing Akinci drones for itself, but has not made a firm decision yet. This leaves Saudi Arabia as the top customer for the large UAV, even though its design incorporates Ukrainian-made engines.