TURKEY INKS $367M DEAL WITH KUWAIT FOR BAYKAR TB2 DRONES

Tue 13 June 2023:

Kuwait has concluded a contract worth $367 million with Turkish defence firm, Baykar, to buy its TB2 drones through direct negotiations between the two governments, the Kuwaiti army said in a statement on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

The statement did not reveal how many drones would be delivered to Kuwait or when.

International demand for Baykar’s TB2 drones soared after they featured in conflicts in Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan and interest in them increased further following their use by Ukraine’s military to thwart Russian forces.

The State of Kuwait would be the 28th country in the world to conclude a contract for the Bayraktar TB2 drones.

Baykar has come to prominence internationally in recent years because of the company’s light drone TB-2, which has been used in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and North Africa and has been a huge export success, catapulting the firm to becoming one of the largest Turkish defence exporters.

Drones aren’t the only thing elevating Turkey’s status as a growing player in the global defense industry. The sheer number of international deals the country’s defense firms have made in the last few years reveals rapidly rising demand, major R&D investment and a growing source of leverage for Turkey’s foreign relations.

In 2022, Turkey hit a record $4.4 billion in arms exports – a figure larger than some European countries’ annual defense budgets. After exceeding its export target for the year, Turkey’s government aims to bring that figure to $6 billion in 2023. Turnover for the country’s defense industry as a whole last year was $10 billion, according to Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries.