Turkish drone maker Baykar Makina has established a joint venture with Ukrainian arms trade company Ukrspetsexport, a subsidiary of Ukroboronprom, to operate in the field of high precision arm and aerospace technologies, according to a statement released by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on Saturday.
"The main mission of the joint venture is to combine the defense capabilities of both countries and ensure the mass production of new modern defense products for their respective armies," the statement stated.
The first project the Turkish-Ukrainian joint venture will carry out will be the development of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a statement by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine said. "This drone will be able to carry out detailed reconnaissance flights at high altitudes, fly long hours and have a significant acceleration capabilities and attack high-precision ammunition," the statement read and underscored the strong know-how and experience of Turkish and Ukrainian defense industries.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky visited Baykar Makina's armed drone and research and development (R&D) facilities last week during his visit to Turkey.
In January, Bayraktar signed an agreement with Ukrainian company Ukrspetsproject for the purchase of 12 Turkish Bayraktar TB2s for the Ukrainian army and received the delivery of the drones in March.
The Bayraktar TB2 armed drones, produced by Baykar and operationally used since 2015, have continued to support the fight against terror in other regions while providing effective surveillance, reconnaissance and fire support to the security forces in Operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch. Bayraktar TB2 UAVs have played an active role in detecting, diagnosing and neutralizing thousands of terrorists to date.
The TB2 armed UAV was developed for tactical reconnaissance and surveillance missions and can also carry ammo, perform assaults and has laser target acquisition.
