Drone manufacturer Baykar: 1.75 billion euros in export revenue in 2024

The drone manufacturer Baykar is satisfied with its results for the past year: in 2024, the Turkish specialist in unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) generated revenue of almost two billion euros. Exports accounted for 1.75 billion euros of this, around 90 per cent.

As early as 2023, the company was among Turkey’s top 10 exporters. At that time, it reached the mark of 1.75 billion euros in export revenue for the first time, corresponding to one third of all Turkish defence and aerospace exports. In 2024, this share was 25 per cent. In a recent press release, the company stresses that it thereby “made a decisive contribution to Turkey maintaining its position as the world’s leading UCAV exporter”.

Drone manufacturer with customers in 35 countries

According to a report by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) from September 2024, Turkey now accounts for 65 per cent of the global export market for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Baykar puts its own market share at around 60 per cent.

To date, Baykar has delivered its Bayraktar TB2 and Bayraktar Akinci UCAVs to 35 countries. The Bayraktar TB2 is in service in 34 states, while the Akinci has so far found ten customers. Since an agreement with Croatia on 19 November 2024, the Bayraktar TB2 has been in the arsenals of six NATO members and four EU states.

2024 was a particularly busy year for Baykar’s exports:

• January: Bayraktar Akinci delivered to the United Arab Emirates,
• February: deliveries of the Bayraktar TB2 to Romania completed,
• Spring: exports to Albania, the Maldives, Poland and Mali,
• Summer: deliveries to strategically important partners such as Kenya, Pakistan and Morocco,
• Autumn & winter: agreement with Croatia, plus further deliveries to Kenya, Azerbaijan and the UAE.