Ukrainian engines continue to be used on the drones of the Turkish company Baykar. This is reported by Dengi.ua with reference to interview with Ukrinform of the company's CEO Haluk Bayraktar.
According to him, despite the fact that Baykar's Bayraktar drone manufacturing plant in Ukraine has already been the fourth to be attacked by Russia, the company continues to actively cooperate with Ukrainian partners.
He noted that the safety of Ukrainian colleagues is the most serious concern and remains the company's absolute priority.
"We are happy that there were no casualties as a result of the attack. So, the facility suffered some structural damage and material damage. But the iron, concrete and structures can be recovered. What really matters is our will and faith in this project. No missile can interfere with our friendship. This attack has not caused any change in our plans. We have completed the damage assessment and are moving forward according to schedule" - emphasized Haluk Bayraktar.
Baykar CEO also said that the company's drones, which were previously equipped with Ukrainian-made engines, continue to be put on drones despite the war, although certain adjustments have been made.
"Regarding these technologies, we have a long, productive and successful cooperation with our Ukrainian strategic partners. It is true that the war has affected this cooperation, and we respectfully observe the resilience of Ukrainian industry under such difficult conditions. Our cooperation is unwavering. At the same time, we are redoubling our efforts to implement our own localized solutions and expand our supplier network," Bayraktar said.
He also added that the company has created its own engine for the Bayraktar TB2 attack drone, while the Bayraktar TB3 platform is equipped with an engine developed by the Turkish company TEI.
"And engines from our Ukrainian partners are actively used on strategic platforms such as AKINCI and KIZILELMA, which require higher power and performance. We are fully satisfied with this cooperation," explained the CEO of the company.
He also spoke about cooperation with Ukrainian specialists in Turkey.
"We work side by side with extremely talented Ukrainian engineers and technicians at our headquarters in Istanbul. We view this relationship not as a one-sided training program, but as a mutual exchange of experience and competencies. After all, we seriously benefit from their deep engineering experience and unique insight throughout research, development and production in Turkey. In addition, we contribute to the development of future Ukrainian engineers and technicians through our internship program. They not only strengthen current capabilities, but also form the future core team for our investment projects in Ukraine," Bayraktar said.