Turkish drone magnate Baykar is setting aside $300 million for the development of jet engines

Baykar, the company behind Türkiye’s famous combat drones, is allocating resources to increase internal production of components to address the challenges in the industry’s supply chain and, according to its CEO, plans to invest approximately $300 million in the development of jet engines.

Baykar’s unmanned combat aircraft, or UCAVs, have gained worldwide fame after being used by the Ukrainian military against Russian forces and in campaigns in Azerbaijan and North Africa.

The company has become one of the most prolific drone exporters in the world, with its light Bayraktar TB2 and heavy Akıncı drones sold to at least 35 countries.

Baykar is currently focusing on producing as many components as possible in-house, CEO Haluk Bayraktar said in an interview on the sidelines of the SAHA defense fair in Istanbul, shortly before a deadly attack on Türkiye’s aerospace manufacturer TAI.

“Since supply chain continuity is a major issue worldwide, we are focusing on internal production. The missing piece is the engine and now we are embarking on our own development project,” said Bayraktar.

Baykar will invest $300 million over the next five years to develop a turboprop engine for the Akıncı drone. This will follow with a turbofan engine for Kızılelma, an unmanned fighter jet currently undergoing flight tests.

Akıncı and Kızılelma currently use Ukrainian-built engines. The company also recently signed an agreement with Ukraine’s Ivchenko-Progress to separately develop a turbofan engine, Bayraktar said.

In the long term, the company is committed to autonomous, air-to-air drones that can take over fighter aircraft.

“There are 13,000 piloted fighter jets in the world, and we are betting that they will all be autonomous in the next 40 years,” Bayraktar said.

“They will be smaller, deployed in riskier missions and easier to manufacture. Their numbers will be an order of magnitude greater than the fighter jets we have today,” he added.

Ukraine factory

Baykar expects one Ukrainian factory next year.

“We are 80% finished with construction and machines are being ordered. The production date will be determined by the course of the war, but the facility will be ready in August 2025,” Bayraktar said.

The factory is expected to produce TB2 or the heavier variant TB3.

Baykar will keep capacity on the TB2 and Akıncı production lines stable and invest in expanding the TB3 and Kızılelma lines in the coming years.

Kızılelma is expected to go into series production next year with 10 units.

TB3 has the ability to fold its wings and is tailor-made for Türkiye’s first aircraft carrier, the TCG Anadolu, which is also called the world’s first drone aircraft carrier.

Baykar’s revenues were $2 billion last year, up from $1.4 billion last year, with 90% of that coming from foreign markets. The company accounts for about a third of Türkiye’s total defense and aerospace exports.