Turkish drones enter fleets across Arab states
Turkish-made armed drones are now used or on order across much of the Arab world, extending Türkiye’s defense industry presence from the Gulf to North Africa, according to an analysis published by Forbes.
The Aug. 29 article by contributor Paul Iddon said the Bayraktar TB2, Akıncı, Anka-S and Aksungur had been acquired by countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE initially turned to Chinese armed drones after the United States declined to supply them but later moved toward Turkish systems as their relations with Ankara improved, the analysis said.
Saudi Arabia agreed in 2021 to produce Vestel Savunma’s Karayel-SU under license and ordered an undisclosed number of Akıncı drones from Baykar in 2023. The latter agreement, described by Baykar as Türkiye’s largest defense and aviation export contract at the time, includes technology transfer and joint production.
