Turkish arms maker Baykar, whose aircraft have been used in conflicts in Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Libya, agreed to supply Saudi Arabia with its most sophisticated high-altitude drones to help the kingdom boost its defense force.
(Bloomberg) — Turkish arms maker Baykar, whose aircraft have been used in conflicts in Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Libya, agreed to supply Saudi Arabia with its most sophisticated high-altitude drones to help the kingdom boost its defense force.
Chief Executive Officer Haluk Bayraktar hailed the agreement to send Akincis, 24-hour endurance unmanned aerial vehicles, to the kingdom as “the biggest defense and aviation export in the history of Turkey,” according to a Twitter post Tuesday.
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Under the deal, Baykar is expected to sell an unspecified number of drones to Saudi Arabia. The agreement was signed during a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman on Monday along with accords on direct investment, defense industry, energy and communication.
“Cooperation over the transfer of technology and local production will also be realized as part of the exports,” Bayraktar told CNN-Turk television on Tuesday, adding that other defense deals including the sale of munitions to Saudi Arabia will follow.
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Erdogan has sought to improve relations with Riyadh in the past two years, after ties were frozen following the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul as well as divisions over regional issues.
The Akinci drones will be deployed in the air and navy forces of Saudi Arabia, the Baykar company said, without sharing more details .Turkey has been effectively using Akincis to detect and target separatist Kurdish militants in rugged areas of northern Iraq.
Saudi Arabia has become the seventh country to purchase the Akinci, Bayraktar said whose company has exported its signature TB2 drones to 30 countries so far. Turkish-made drones have ended the military’s dependence on leases from Israel and increased its capacity to track and attack autonomy-seeking Kurdish PKK militants in the country, as well as in Iraq and Syria.
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(Updates with remarks from Baykar CEO in fourth paragraph)
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