Construction of Bayraktar drone-producing plant has begun in Ukraine

According to Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukrainian Minister of Strategic Industries, the Turkish company Baykar has already begun building a facility in Ukraine to produce Bayraktar drones.

“The plant has begun to be built in practice, not merely in theory. This is the same large Bayraktar plant on which an agreement was reached several years ago,” Kamyshin said.

On June 22, 2023, Baykar received licences to manufacture military drones in Ukraine. 

According to the company’s CEO, Haluk Bayraktar, drone production will begin in 2025, with a total investment of roughly $95 million in the project.

The drones created at the plant would be supplied with Ukrainian-made engines, and the facility will also contain a training centre for Ukrainian pilots, said Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

The effectiveness of Bayraktar

The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has gained a lot of attention among the various weapons systems used by the Ukrainian army.

Drones developed in Turkey have proved essential in various armed conflicts in the world in recent years, including battlefields in Syria, Libya, and Nagorno-Karabakh, transforming the way modern battles are waged.

The Oryx blog compiled an extensive list of visually confirmed military losses caused by the Bayraktar drone in these conflicts, including 120 tanks, 47 armoured fighting vehicles, 147 towed artillery, 43 self-propelled artillery, 78 multiple rocket launchers, two ballistic missiles, seven self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, 42 surface-to-air missile systems, seven radar systems, one jammer system, seven aircraft, and 291 vehicles.

Since Ukraine’s military lacks air supremacy against Russia, the Bayraktar TB2 is critical for providing air surveillance. Furthermore, the TB2 enables Ukraine to monitor and coordinate defensive and offensive measures.

Bayraktar TB2’s technical advantages give Ukraine the ability to strike Russian targets and disrupt Russian logistic lines.

As the Bayraktar TB2 has a long flight time, it is not only used to target Russian forces but also for surveillance and to guide artillery fire.

Bayraktar capabilities

The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude, long-range UAV system made in Turkey by Baykar Makina. The Bayraktar series began manufacturing in 2007, with the first flight in June 2009.

The Bayraktar TB2 UAV can carry a payload of 150kg and fly any time of day or night. In 2019, the Bayraktar TB2 drone set a new endurance record by flying nonstop for 27 hours and 3 minutes in Kuwait.

Furthermore, the Bayraktar TB2 drone’s MAM-L lightweight Smart Micro Munition has been created for UAVs, light attack aircraft, and air-to-ground missions. 

MAM-L provides excellent strike precision and efficiency against fixed and mobile targets with different warheads. The Bayraktar TB2 is capable of carrying four MAM-L missiles.