 | |
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Baykar Makina |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder | Özdemir Bayraktar |
| Headquarters | Istanbul, Turkey |
Key people |
|
| Revenue |  $1 billion (2022) [1] |
Number of employees | 5000+ [2] |
| Website | |
Baykar is a private Turkish defence company specialising in UAVs, C4I and artificial intelligence.
Baykar is a portmanteau of the words Bayraktar Kardeşler (Bayraktar Brothers). [3] The company presently operates under the names "Baykar Teknoloji" (Baykar Technology) and "Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş." (Baykar Machine Industry and Trade Inc.)
The company was founded in 1984 as Baykar Makina, a CNC precision machining supplier subcontractor [3] by Özdemir Bayraktar, with the primary goals being production of automotive parts such as engines, pumps and spare parts to ensure the localization of the automotive industry. Established in this direction, Baykar is an engineering company founded with 100% domestic capital. It took steps towards producing unmanned aerial vehicles in the 2000s in line with the developments and progress in the aviation sector. Bayraktar Mini UAV was the first unmanned aerial system produced entirely with domestic capital, included in the Turkish Armed Forces inventory in 2007. Having launched R&D activities for this purpose, Baykar has realized pioneering productions in its field and by producing subsystems, it has achieved to provide technical support to Turkish national defence industry, as the latter has grown and started exporting weapons including Baykar drones. [4] Baykar's portfolio of advanced UAVs includes Bayraktar Tactical UAS (Bayraktar TB1), Bayraktar TB2 UCAV, Bayraktar Akıncı UCAV. It is also developing a flying car (quadricopter) which it started testing in 2020. [5] [6] The car, called Cezeri and weighing 230 kilograms, rose 10 metres above the ground in the tests carried out in Istanbul in September 2020. [7]
Baykar's drones have been used in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War by the Azerbaijani army [8] which resulted in a series of boycotts from international companies whom Baykar used to buy products from. Domestic drone manufacturing before that war relied on imported and regulated components and technologies such as the engines from Austria (manufactured by Rotax), fuel systems (manufactured by Andair) and missile rack (manufactured by EDO MBM [9] ) from the UK, optoelectronics (FLIR sensors imported from Wescam in Canada or Hensoldt in Germany). Engines exports were halted when Canadian Bombardier, owner of Rotax, became aware of the military use of their recreational aircraft engines. [10] In October 2020 Canadian Wescam (optics and sensors) exports were restricted by the Canadian Foreign Ministry. [11] After learning that their products were used to create combat drones, Hampshire-based UK aircraft manufacturer Andair announced the discontinuation of all sales to Baykar Makina on 11 January 2021. [12] The British manufacturer became the latest company to stop selling equipment to Turkey after its components were found in drones shot down during the war. [13]
Turkish industry responded to foreign sales boycotts by announcing provision of domestically manufactured alternatives to Baykar – PD170 motor (Turkish Aerospace Industries), [14] [15] optical camera (Aselsan CATS system), [16] and fuel valve (Aselsan). Turkish defense industry researcher Kadir Doğan tweeted that cancellation of sales of components to Baykar by foreign companies did not pose a major problem, and that as of January 2021 all those components have been replaced by locally manufactured alternatives. [17]
In 2021 the Ukrainian military for the first time in the war in Donbas used a Bayraktar strike drone, Bayraktar TB2. [18]
In June 2022 the "People's Bayraktar" fundraising project was launched in Ukraine, which managed to fundraise in three over ₴600 million to purchase three Bayraktar TB2. [19]
In 2023 it was developing the Bayraktar TB3 due to a lack of aircraft to deploy on the amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu. [20]
The company has been led by Özdemir Bayraktar until his death and his sons – Selçuk and Haluk
Baykar's senior mechanical engineer and chair of the board Özdemir Bayraktar, graduated from Istanbul Technical University's Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1972. He then completed a master's degree at the Department of Engines, with a focus on internal combustion engines. He had positions in many companies that played a leading role in Turkey's industrial sector (Burdur Tractors, Istanbul Retaining Ring Uzel, etc.). In 1984 he took part in the establishment of Baykar Makina to indigenize what was then Turkey's highly import-dependent automotive industry. At Baykar, he directed many unique machining and manufacturing apparatus design processes for the precision machining sector. In 2004 he decided to move on to UAV production with his son Selçuk, who at the time was pursuing a PhD degree on unmanned aerial systems at MIT. [21] He then started to play a pioneering role in Baykar's development of indigenous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle technology, implementing these projects from design to prototype, and subsequently from manufacturing stages to further R&D. He also had a private pilot's license. [22] According to opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper, he had a religiously conservative background, but despite disdainful relations at the time between pious groups and the army, he had ties with several military figures and worked on Turkish Armed Forces projects in the late 1990s. [23] He was awarded the Order of Karabakh by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in April 2021 for his "contribution to the liberation of Karabakh from the occupation of Armenia" by Bayraktar TB2 drones. He died on 18 October 2021 at the age of 72 in Istanbul. [24]
Baykar's Chief Technical Officer, Selçuk Bayraktar, was born in 1979 in Istanbul. After attending the prestigious Robert College high school, Selcuk Bayraktar studied electrical engineering at Istanbul Technical University, graduating in 2002. He then pursued an internship at University of Pennsylvania, later obtaining a master's degree in engineering from the same university. Bayraktar went on to study for a PhD degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he worked on unmanned helicopter systems. He completed his master's at MIT in 2006 with a thesis titled "Aggressive Landing Maneuvers for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles". He returned to Turkey in 2007 cutting his PhD studies short to work at Baykar. Bayraktar called on Turkish officials to invest in drone technology in 2005. "If Turkey supports this project, these drones, then in five years it can easily be at the forefront of the world in this field" Bayraktar said in 2005. He has been hailed as a pioneer of what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan calls Ankara's rapidly developing "local and national" defence sector. Bayraktar married Erdoğan's daughter Sümeyye in 2016. [25]
Baykar's CEO and general manager, Haluk Bayraktar, has received an undergraduate degree from METU Industrial Engineering in 2000 and completed his master's degree in the same field at Columbia University in 2002. In 2004, he started his doctoral studies in Business Administration at Boğaziçi University. In the same period, he worked as an engineer manager in the project design stages of the works for the development of National and Unique Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems within the family company, involved in conceptual design, prototype, testing, production, training and business stages. In 2018, he was elected as the chairman of the Board of SAHA Istanbul Defense and Aviation Cluster and a member of the TUBITAK board of directors in 2018. [26]
An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, fighter drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircraft ordnance such as missiles, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and/or bombs in hardpoints for drone strikes. These drones are usually under real-time human control, with varying levels of autonomy. UCAVs are used for reconnaissance, attacking targets and returning to base; unlike kamikaze drones which are only made to explode on impact, or surveillance drones which are only for gathering intelligence.
The Bayraktar Mini UAV is a miniature UAV produced by the Turkish company Baykar.
PAF Base Murid, is an operational flying base of the Pakistan Air Force located near the village of Murid in the Chakwal District of Punjab. It houses the UCAV and UAV fleet of the PAF.
The TAI Anka is a family of unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries primarily for the Turkish Air Force. Envisioned in the early 2000s for aerial surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Anka has evolved into a modular platform with synthetic-aperture radar, precise weapons and satellite communication.
The Vestel Karayel is a surveillance, reconnaissance and later combat unmanned aerial vehicle system developed by Vestel Savunma later the company renamed as Lentatek. The drone is currently operated by Turkish Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia.
Drone warfare is a form of warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or unmanned surface vehicles. The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Iraq, Italy, France, India, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Poland are known to have manufactured operational UCAVs as of 2019.
TAI Gözcü is a radio-controlled short-range tactical drone. Designed, developed and built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is in use by the Turkish Armed Forces for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance purposes. Gözcü is the Turkish word for observer.
The Bayraktar UAV or Bayraktar UCAV is a family of unmanned aerial vehicles designed and manufactured by Turkish company Baykar. The UAVs were developed for the Turkish Armed Forces from 2004 until the present. Some models are designed for surveillance and reconnaissance only, others are capable of tactical ground-strike missions. Baykar is also developing drones to counter other aerial systems. The word bayraktar means flag-bearer in Turkish.
TCG Anadolu (L-400) is an amphibious assault ship of the Turkish Navy. It is named after the peninsula of Anatolia which forms the majority of the land mass of Turkey. The construction works began on 30 April 2016 at the shipyard of Sedef Shipbuilding Inc. in Istanbul, with the keel being laid on 7 February 2018. TCG Anadolu was commissioned with a ceremony on 10 April 2023.
Bayraktar Akıncı is a high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) being manufactured by the Turkish defence company Baykar. The first three units entered service with the Turkish Armed Forces on 29 August 2021.
The TAI Aksungur is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) for the Turkish Armed Forces. Using existing technology from the TAI Anka series of drones, it is the manufacturer's largest drone with payload capacity for mission-specific equipment. It is intended to be used for long-term surveillance, signals intelligence, maritime patrol missions, or as an unmanned combat aerial vehicle. TAI planned to integrate weapon packages and put the Aksungur into production in early 2020. The first unit was delivered to the Turkish Naval Forces on 20 October 2021.
The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations. It is manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., primarily for the Turkish Armed Forces. The aircraft are monitored and controlled by an aircrew in a ground control station, including weapons employment. The development of the UAV has been largely credited to Selçuk Bayraktar, a former MIT graduate student.
Mini Akıllı Mühimmat (MAM), meaning "smart micro munition" is a family of laser-guided and/or GPS/INS guided bombs produced by Turkish defence industry manufacturer Roketsan.
An unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle, is an unarmed military UAV that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR). Unlike unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), this type of system is not designed to carry aircraft ordnance such as missiles, ATGMs, or bombs for drone strikes. The main purpose is to provide battlefield intelligence. Small sized short-range man-portable unmanned aerial vehicles are called miniature UAV also used for battlefield intelligence.
Selçuk Bayraktar is a Turkish pilot, engineer and businessman. He is the chairman of the board and the chief technology officer of the Turkish technology company Baykar. He is also known as the architect of Turkey's first indigenous unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) Bayraktar TB2 and first unmanned fighter jet Bayraktar Kızılelma. Bayraktar is also the founding chairman of the Turkish Technology Team Foundation.
Haluk Bayraktar is a Turkish engineer and executive. He is the CEO of Baykar, TUBITAK Board Member and founder and chairman of the board of Turkey Technology Team Foundation and SAHA Istanbul. He is a pioneer of Turkey for autonomous technology efforts which reshaped battlefields and geopolitics which resulted with a change of future warfare doctrines.
The Bayraktar Kızılelma is a single-engine, low-observable, carrier-capable, jet-powered unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), currently in development by Turkish defense company Baykar. The aircraft is being developed as part of Project MIUS. The initial Bayraktar Kızılelma (Kızılelma-A) is subsonic. Planned variants are intended to be supersonic, the latter having a twin-engined configuration. It is one of the two Turkish jet-powered stealth UCAV along with TAI Anka-3.
The Baykar Bayraktar TB3 is a Turkish medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of short-range landing and take-off, produced by Baykar. According to the initial plans, the ship TCG Anadolu was expected to be equipped with Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II fighter jets but the vessel entered a modification process to allow it to be able to accommodate UAVs such as Bayraktar TB3 following the removal of Turkey from the F-35 procurement program.
A drone carrier is a crewed or uncrewed ship equipped with a flight deck on which drones can take off and land. This ship can be civilian or military. In addition to drone carriers for unmanned aerial Vehicles, there are also others for unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles.
Özdemir Bayraktar, is a Turkish engineer and entrepreneur. He is the designer of Bayraktar TB2, Turkey's first indigenous UCAV system, and Bayraktar Akıncı. He was the chairman of the board of directors of Baykar until his death.
Established in 1984 as a CNC precision machining supplier subcontractor, Baykar is a portmanteau of the words Bayraktar Kardesler (Bayraktar Brothers)
The Cezeri Flying Car, will make a radical change by providing totally Green urban air transport.
While the armed Bayraktar TB2 drones are manufactured by a Turkish company, they could not have been developed without the Hornet missile rack, which was devised and supplied by EDO MBM Technology
After investigation, Andair immediately halted supply and cancelled all orders from Baykar Makina
Parts found in aerial weapons shot down during Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Selçuk Bayraktar's father [Özdemir Bayraktar] had been known for his warm ties with the Turkish Armed Forces personnel for years. He continued working on military projects even after the 28 February [1997] incident.
He has been hailed as a pioneer of what Erdogan calls Ankara's rapidly developing "local and national" defence sector.
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