When Bayraktar drones will be produced in Ukraine: the date has been announced
4 November 2024 18:12
The construction of a plant for the production of Turkish drones Bayraktar in Kyiv region will be completed in August 2025. This was stated by Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar in an interview with Reuters, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
“We have completed 80% of the construction, and machines are already being ordered. The production date will be determined by the course of the war, but the plant will be ready in August 2025,” Bayraktar said.
The plant is expected to produce TB2 or its heavier TB3 variant, which is capable of carrying a heavier load.
Baykar will maintain the capacity of the TB2 and Akinci production lines at the same level, and over the next few years will invest in the expansion of the TB3 and Kizilelma lines. The Kizilelma line is expected to go into mass production next year at 10 units.
In addition, the CEO of Baykar said that he had recently signed an agreement with the Ukrainian company Ivchenko-Progress on the joint development of a turbofan engine. This became possible because in the long term, the company is betting on autonomous drones capable of air combat to replace fighters.
“There are 13,000 manned fighter jets in the world, and we are betting that over the next four decades, all of them will be autonomous,” Bayraktar said.
“They will be smaller, used in more risky missions, and easier to manufacture. Their number will be an order of magnitude higher than the fighters we have today,” he added.
What is known about the construction of the Baykar plant in Ukraine
The construction of the plant near Kyiv, which will employ about 500 people, was first announced in early February 2024.
“Our plant is under construction… it will take us about 12 months to finish the construction, and then we will move on to internal machinery, equipment, and organizational structure. The plant in Ukraine is large, we plan to employ about 500 people,” said Baykar’s CEO.
He also noted that the capacity will be about 120 units per year, but said it is not yet clear whether production at the Ukrainian plant will focus on the TB2 or TB3 drone model.
