The chief executive of Türkiye's drone magnate Baykar foresees the transition of manned fighters to unmanned systems, suggesting unmanned systems "will be everywhere and it will be a crowded airspace," according to a transcript of an interview published Monday.
Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar, in the interview for The Defense Journal of the Atlantic Council in Turkey, evaluated the development of the company's unmanned fighter jet Kızılelma, the recent deal with Italian defense giant Leonardo, as well as his views on unmanned systems and international cooperation.
Bayraktar said that unmanned systems represent "a new niche in the defense ecosystem," pointing out that "you can easily innovate in the unmanned realm with the latest technology," whereas he flagged that in the manned domain, one needs to be "more conservative."
"There are about 13,000 manned fighters worldwide right now – Russian, Chinese, the U.S. and other systems combined. We believe that all those platforms will eventually be converted to unmanned systems, even though one cannot prove that point just yet," he was quoted as saying.
"When you look at the field, it’s clearly headed in that direction. To be clear, they may not be replaced one for one," he added.
"It may be more like three to five unmanned platforms to replace each manned fighter. Unmanned systems will be everywhere, and it will be a crowded airspace – not just unmanned fighters but smaller first-person view drones and loitering munitions," he suggested.
In response to a question on what's next for Baykar in the Western market, Bayraktar said that Baykar "has become the world’s biggest drone maker."
He cited that it had 38 international partners now, from Europe and NATO to the Turkic countries, Africa and the Middle East.
"Among NATO allies, we have partnered with Poland, Romania, Kosovo, Croatia and of course, Türkiye’s military, law enforcement and disaster relief agencies," he said.
"As for Leonardo, we are on the path to establishing a joint venture (JV)," he added.
"They are a major player in Europe and their work areas are highly compatible with ours – a lot of synergies and complementarity," he further explained.
"A JV is a great opportunity/potential to bring robust, field-proven systems to a broader market. Baykar has drones all around the world, including tactical and strategic platforms. Leonardo produces critical subsystems with great potential for Europe and broader markets where they have a presence, including South America and elsewhere, but Europe is our main focus," said Bayraktar.
"In Europe, there is no other mature alternative to what we have."
Elaborating on Baykar's and the domestic defense sector's expansion over the years, Bayraktar also said that they produce 250 Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles) per year and 50 Akıncı UCAVs, adding that they are "ramping up to support larger capacity as the Bayraktar TB3 UCAV and the Kızılelma unmanned fighter jet move from development to production."
On the question of whether he sees Kızılelma as a loyal wingman to the fifth-generation Kaan fighter or a pathway to replace Kaan in the future, Bayraktar said they "do not envision it as a loyal wingman," although he said "it can work as an integrated adjunct in theory, if one were to couple it and use it with manned fighters in risky environments."
Kaan is Türkiye's fifth-generation fighter jet, developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
As part of his remarks, Bayraktar recalled that Kaan is a national manned fighter program, funded by the government, while noting that Kızılelma is "Baykar’s own design and project."
He recalled that Kızılelma completed its first flight in 2022, which he said they see as "a revolution."
"Bayraktar TB3 has the capability to take off and land on short-runway aircraft carriers. Kızılelma will have this feature too," he also said. Moreover, he noted that Kızılelma will integrate artificial intelligence to assist with the delegation of command and other operational aspects.
