Turkey Sells Armed Drones to the UAE
Turkey's latest export is the world-renowned Bayraktar TB2 armed drones. The highest quality performance and reliability for your military operations.
Bayraktar was not a famous brand in the global defense industry until recent years but the company has achieved an important sales record in the last years. The Turkish government has been providing essential support to this company, and Selçuk Bayraktar, the head of the board of governors of the company, has revealed that government support has an important place in their success. The company can produce 200 drones in a year, and 500 drones are planned to be produced in the following years. The company declared that the production capacity in the next three years is already filled with orders. Turkiye needs increasing exports to get out of the financial crisis the country suffers now, and the Bayraktar drones are truly helpful in this meaning.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) orders the Bayraktar drones
The last country ordering drones from Turkiye has been UAE. The increasing risks of armed conflicts in the gulf force the countries in this region to invest more in their national defense systems. UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, and Morocco are the alias of NATO in the gulf region. Radical Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and HAMAS, and Iran create threats to these countries. These countries improve their national defense systems by mainly purchasing weapons and air defense technologies from the US and European countries. NATO has some stations placed in these countries and provides essential national security services to them. However, these countries are interested in creating new alternatives, and Bayraktar provides them with a relatively cheaper alternative to strengthen their air defense. Recently, some Arabic countries declares their interest in the Bayraktar drones, and it seems that it will increase shortly. Also, considering that the Bayraktar receives essential government support, these countries use their purchase of the Bayraktar drones as a part of their policy to improve their relations with Turkiye. Finally, the success of the Bayraktar drones in the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia has been an important fact promoting the sales of the Bayraktar drones in the Middle East and the gulf region.
Sustainability of the Bayraktar drones
Although the Bayraktar drones have been successful in the armed conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, there is an important sustainability question behind them. The materials and some mechanical tools used in the production of the Bayraktar drones are imported from Western countries including Germany and Canada. This fact makes the production of drones open to external shocks. For instance, when Turkiye purchased S400 air defense missiles from Russia, Germany and Canada declared that they would stop selling the materials used in the production of drones to Turkiye, and it caused a short-term issue in the Bayraktar company. For tackling this weakness, Turkiye needs to develop side industries producing these imported materials used in the production of defense systems and drones.
Another important risk for these drones is the continuation of government support for Bayraktar. The presidential election and the general election will be held in 2023 in Turkiye, and it seems that Erdogan has some difficulties to win the next elections due to the economic difficulties in the country. If Erdogan loses the elections, the new government will be including the opponent parties, and it is a high probability they will stop providing financial and political support to the Bayraktar company. In this case, Bayraktar might face some difficulties to sustain its after-sale services to its customers.
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