Baykar’s recent investment is for the production of various gas turbine engines in a facility being set up inside the Samsun Tekkeköy OSB industrial zone.
The facility will be built in a 300-acre area reserved for Baykar. Baykar has had plans to step into the engine sector and took the first steps with the development of the BM100 internal combustion engine for the Bayraktar TB2 armed UAV.
However, the ultimate goal of Baykar is the production of gas turbine engines for its new line of platforms (Kızılelma unmanned fighter, Akıncı UCAV...), for which Baykar has been forming a workforce.
Beyond technical expertise, a significant production force is required for complicated gas turbine engines, which have highly demanding standards for component tolerances.
Considering the previous agreements signed with Ivchenko Progress on various gas turbine engines (AI-322, AI-25TL, AI-450, MS-500...), it is likely that Baykar will produce the models with agreements signed on them or derivatives with improvements. The ongoing war in Ukraine, the Black Sea Shield JV with Ukrspecexport, and the proximity through the Black Sea strengthen this possibility. Another strengthening factor for this possibility is that one of the main objectives of Black Sea Shield JV is to form a new engine manufacturer.
While Italian Piaggio Aerospace’s (Which Baykar acquired) capabilities in gas turbine engines could be counted as another possibility, it is less likely due to the distances, time, and the fact that the facilities are already established in Italy. Baykar is more likely to continue the engine-related activities of Piaggio Aerospace from Italy for this reason.
