Saudi Arabia signs major deal with Turkey to acquire Baykar drones
Riyadh has long been interested in Baykar drones and the possibility of producing the weapons in Saudi Arabia.
ANKARA — Turkey and Saudi Arabia have signed five deals to boost cooperation in economic, defense and energy during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the Gulf powerhouse, Turkish officials announced Tuesday.
The Turkish presidency's communications directorate said one of the deals was signed between the Turkey's leading drone Manufacturer Baykar's CEO Haluk Bayraktar and Deputy Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud without elaborating further, but the latter said the deal involves two acquisition contracts and that it aims to enhance the readiness of the kingdom's armed forces and bolstering its defense and manufacturing capabilities.
Suudi Arabistan Savunma Bakanlığı (@modgovksa) ile Bayraktar #AKINCI TİHA ihracatı ve iş birliği sözleşmesi imzaladık.
— Haluk Bayraktar (@haluk) July 18, 2023
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti tarihinin en büyük savunma ve havacılık ihracatı sözleşmesi hayırlı ve uğurlu olsun. 🇹🇷🇸🇦#MilliTeknolojiHamlesi 🌍🇹🇷 https://t.co/Y3JwhZV826 pic.twitter.com/iCfehdIHs6
CEO Haluk Bayraktar described the deal as “the biggest defense and aviation export contract” in Turkey’s history, in a Twitter post. He added that the deal includes the exportation of the Akinci TIHA, a high-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle.
Erdogan announced in 2021 that Saudi Arabia had been interested in purchasing Baykar drones and also in setting up a manufacturing plant for the joint production of the drones. The Kingdom has been the eight country which purchased Akinci combat drones from Baykar.
