The story
The company was founded in 1984 as Baykar Makina, a CNC precision machining supplier subcontractor 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. 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. The car, called Cezeri and weighing 230 kilograms, rose 10 metres above the ground in the tests carried out in Istanbul in September 2020.Haluk Bayraktar stated that Baykar is considering spending $1 billion in the development process of Bayraktar Kızılelma, a jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicle.
Baykar's drones have been used in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War by the Azerbaijani army 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) 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. In October 2020 Canadian Wescam (optics and sensors) exports were restricted by the Canadian Foreign Ministry. 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. 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.
Turkish industry responded to foreign sales boycotts by announcing provision of domestically manufactured alternatives to Baykar – TEI-PD170 motor (Turkish Aerospace Industries), optical camera (Aselsan CATS system), 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.
In 2021 the Ukrainian military for the first time in the war in Donbas used a Bayraktar strike drone, Bayraktar TB2.
In June 2022 the "People's Bayraktar" fundraising project was launched in Ukraine, which managed to fundraise in three days over ₴600 million to purchase three Bayraktar TB2.
The company has a cooperation agreement with Come Back Alive, Ukraine's largest charitable foundation, which was signed in Istanbul on August 3, 2022, by Baykar's CEO Haluk Bayraktar and the Foundation's Director Taras Chmut.
In 2023 it was developing the Bayraktar TB3 due to a lack of fixed-wing aircraft to deploy on the drone-carrying amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu.
In 2024 Baykar announced that they decided to develop their own engine and that they plan to spend $300 million on engine production within a 5-year period.
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On 27 December 2024, it acquired Italian aerospace manufacturer Piaggio Aerospace.
On 6 March 2025, Italian defense firm Leonardo and Baykar have agreed to cooperate on unmanned aerial vehicles.The Italian government approved the Leonardo–Baykar joint venture to develop and produce unmanned aerial systems, subject to conditions limiting international cooperation and exports to countries aligned with EU and NATO policies. The approval was granted under Italy's Golden Power regulations, which also require measures to protect sensitive technologies and classified information.
In May 2026, Safran Electronics & Defense and Baykar signed a strategic partnership agreement covering the development of integrated unmanned aerial systems, advanced navigation technologies, and smart weapon systems. The agreement includes the integration of Safran’s Euroflir electro-optical systems onto Bayraktar TB2 platforms. The partnership combines Safran’s expertise in optronic sensors and navigation with Baykar’s experience in UAV development and operations.
From Wikipedia’s article on Baykar, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4