Turkey surpassed Israel to become the world’s largest unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer after the USA and China. Even if it is not in export revenue, it leaves the USA behind in terms of qualified units. So how much is Turkey’s SİHA power? Here are the current numbers of Bayraktar TB2, Akıncı, Anka and Aksungur in the TAF inventory…
Number of Bayraktar TB2, Akıncı, Anka and Aksungur in Turkey inventory!
More than 450 of the Bayraktar TB2 UAVs and SİHAs, which made their first flight and entered service in 2014, have been produced in the past 8 years. In addition, the production capacity was tripled last year, reaching 20 units per month.
This means that 200+ units will be produced in 2023. Moreover, the production line for the next 3 years has already been booked. If we do not count Turkey, we are currently exporting to 28 different Asian, African and European countries.
A record deal from Baykar: That country that paid 7 billion TL in a single penny!
Baykar announced today that Bayraktar TB2 was exported to the 28th country with an agreement of 370 million dollars.
The number of Bayraktar TB2 SİHAs in Turkey’s inventory is between 160-170. Of course, this number is only the ones in active use. That is, it does not include those that were delivered in the past years and that are currently unavailable or removed from inventory due to different reasons (such as those shot down in Syria and Libya).
Bayraktar Akıncı, another unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Baykar, was delivered throughout the past year. The number of Bayraktar Akıncı A and Bayraktar Akıncı B delivered so far is around 20.
When we look at TAI, we see that mostly Anka and Anka-S are purchased. The total number of Phoenixes in the inventory is around 40. In addition, the production of Aksungur, which is a top class product, continues. The number of known deliveries so far is 6 units.
In other words, the number of domestic UAV-SİHA owned by Turkey is over 250. However, this number has been calculated only on announced deliveries and aircraft in active use. Therefore, if we make a rough estimate, we can say that there are 300+ UAV, SİHA and TİHA platforms ready for duty.
In addition, with the addition of systems such as Bayraktar TB3, which will enter the inventory in 2023 (50+ units have been ordered), Bayraktar Kızılelma, which will make its first flight, and TUSAŞ MİUS, which will make its first flight in the coming months, 500+ units can be reached by the end of 2025.
note: Let’s also point out that there are hundreds of kamikaze, unmanned helicopters, DİHA, spotter and supersonic and similar UAVs that we do not share here.
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