Turkish defense firm opens new civil UAV plant

Turkish defense firm baibars commissioned its new investment in the southern Turkish city of Mersin to open up a civil unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) production plant to boost its domestic and international capabilities.

Established in 2015, baibars became one of the leading firms in rotary wing UAVs' integration, development, and production to meet the needs of farmers.

The firm has exported to nine countries since its inception and received the highest-ever foreign direct investment (FDI) in its sector from Japan, contributing to Türkiye-Japan relations.

The UAV-maker's operational flight hours exceeded 70,000 as it became one of the prominent firms in the field, with its agricultural, fire response, and supply/cargo aerial vehicles.

The firm achieved a monthly UAV production capacity of 100 with the new production plant, which was established to respond to the rising demand and the firm's potential.

The production plant will produce energy and propulsion systems alongside agricultural, fire intervention, and supply/cargo UAVs.

Caglayan Erguvan, CEO of baibars, told Anadolu that export-oriented sustainable growth is at the center of the firm's operations, noting that Turkish UAVs have garnered a global reputation and maintaining this popularity is the firm's top priority.

“We are a young and determined team with experience in rotary wing UAVs,” he said, noting that 60% of the components that make up baibars' autonomous UAVs are domestically produced in Türkiye.

“This way, we boost the competitiveness of our farmers by reducing their input costs and preventing crop losses," he said, adding that “Cesur,” a fire response drone, supports firefighters in Türkiye and Europe.