SAHA 2026 revenues to fund drone centers across all Turkish provinces

Revenues generated from the SAHA 2026 defense, aviation, and space expo will be directed toward establishing drone production and training centers across all 81 provinces of Türkiye, Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar announced during an informational meeting on Saturday. The expo, scheduled for May 5-9 at the Istanbul Fair Center, marks the fifth edition of the event, which has grown significantly since its launch in 2018.

Expo growth and export targets

Bayraktar noted that the first SAHA event in 2018 hosted only 170 participating firms, while this year’s expo will feature more than 1,700 companies, including 260 international participants. Visitor numbers are expected to exceed 200,000 — a twentyfold increase from the first event’s 10,000 attendees. SAHA Istanbul has grown into Europe’s largest industrial cluster, with over 1,300 members. Bayraktar stated that SAHA-facilitated export deals totaled $6.2 billion in 2024, with a target of $8 billion for this year.

Drone centers and young people

Bayraktar revealed that drone production and training centers will be established in every province, with the largest facility located in Istanbul. “We’ll use the revenues from the SAHA expo to establish these centers, which will help us instantly achieve the production capacity of millions of drones nationwide at any given moment,” he said. The centers will be open to the public and designed to encourage young people to train, produce, and test drones. Other industry leaders, including Roketsan CEO Murat Ikinci, Aselsan CEO Ahmet Akyol, and TEI General Manager Mahmut Faruk Aksit, also outlined new capabilities and sustainability goals.