Türkiye dominates 65 pct of global UAV market: Baykar chairman

ANKARA

Türkiye controls 65 percent of the global unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market, according to Selçuk Bayraktar, the chairman and chief technology officer of Turkish drone maker Baykar.

Speaking at the “Take Off Istanbul” event, he said Baykar's Bayraktar TB2, the world's most famous combat UAV, took off in 2014, and the Bayraktar AKINCI made its first flight in 2019.

The AKINCI has already been exported to 10 countries, while the Bayraktar TB2 bears the title of the most-exported UCAV in the world, Bayraktar said.

He said Baykar alone has almost 60 percent of this market and is currently the world's largest UAV company in large platforms.

“In 2004, Baykar developed Türkiye's first robotic guidance system and the first mini-UAV when UAVs were not yet known in the world," he said.

Noting that the Kızılelma, Türkiye's first unmanned combat aircraft, made its first flight one year before the date they had promised in 2022, Bayraktar said that in 2023, the Bayraktar TB3 made its first flight.

"The Bayraktar TB3 became the first combat UAV platform in the world that can take off and land from short-runway ships. The first trials were conducted last month. The Bayraktar TB3 has also started mass production,” he said.

Baykar has been the world's largest drone company for the last three years, he said, adding it is now three times bigger than its closest American rival.

"Baykar has prepared for the races of tomorrow, not yesterday's or today's," he stressed.

Take Off Istanbul has gathered international investors, global technology leaders and successful startups from around the world in Istanbul since 2018.

The 7th Take Off Summit hosted investors from 25 countries and technology startups from 23 countries in Istanbul on Dec. 11-12.

Startups and corporate companies held one-to-one cooperation meetings for two days at the fair.