NATO member Turkey and its Black Sea ally Ukraine have agreed to coproduce Turkish-made military drones at a production site in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Defence Minister Olesii Reznikov has recently made public the bilateral agreement between Turkey and Ukraine in the military defence industry.
The deal was made in cooperation with Baykar Makina, a privately-owned Turkish defence drone maker. The TB2 model resulted from a joint venture between Baykar Makina and the Kale Group, a major private industrial Turkish corporation.
According to the established agreement, Ukrainian technology will be employed to build the drone.
The TB2 will be assembled in Ukraine and supplied with an engine made by Motor Sich, a Ukrainian industrial engineering company.
In 2019, Baykar Makina had already engaged in business with the Ukrainian government, in a previous agreement, signing a 69-million-dollar contract for six of its Bayraktar TB2 UAV´s and ammunition.
In addition, the Ukrainian government has announced the plan of buying additional 24 drones from Baykar Makina in the coming months.
Ukrainian forces are using the TB2 models to counter the Russia-backed separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine, and it will be operated in conducting reconnaissance and intelligence missions.
It should be noted that Ukraine has been the first export market for the TB2, Baykar has also won contracts of the TB2 to Qatar, Azerbaijan and Poland.
Written by Pedro Sena
Bibliography:
Bekdil, Burak Ege. “Turkey and Ukraine to coproduce TB2 drones”; DefenseNews. February 4th, 2022.
https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2022/02/04/turkey-and-ukraine-to-coproduce-tb2-drones/
Image: Mamo, Christian. “Is the Bayraktar TB2 a game changer for Ukraine’s defence?”, Emerging Europe. October 15th, 2021
https://emerging-europe.com/news/is-the-bayraktar-tb2-a-game-changer-for-ukraines-defence/
