The Turkish company Baykar, which manufactures Bayraktar TB2 combat drones, is investing $100mn in three projects in Ukraine, says Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar at the Defence Industries Forum in Kyiv, Ukrinform reports.
"We have three major investments in Ukraine. One of them is a plant. Then we have a service center, as well as a head office here... This is an investment of about $100mn, and the process has already begun. The construction has already started. It will take about 1.5 years to complete. We plan to employ at least 300 people here. The cooperation is ongoing," Bayraktar said.
He also emphasised that this production will be self-sufficient, environmentally friendly and mutually beneficial, as Ukraine has unique technologies for the production of engines, and the Turkish side has drones on which these engines are installed.
"We also face some challenges. These are the supply chain, finding and developing human capital due to the impact of the war, and the regulatory environment, especially the rules that will support this investment," said the Turkish company's CEO.
According to him, the current war has become a war of unmanned aerial vehicles, and Ukraine has some advantage in it, in particular through the use of different types of vehicles, although it is difficult to implement. In such circumstances, feedback from the military on the use of technology is especially important. That is why the "bayraktars" used in Ukraine were equipped with a number of unique systems.
He emphasised that all donations from Baykar, Ukraine, and Poland were used, in particular, to purchase radar systems that have already detected thousands of targets and brought significant results on the battlefield.
"The total amount of these donations amounted up to $106mn," Bayraktar said.