News - Turkish drone manufacturer Bayraktar to invest $300 million in jet engine development

Turkish drone maker Baykar is devoting resources to expanding its own component production amid a tight supply chain in the industry and investing $300 million in jet engine development, Reuters reported, citing the company's CEO Haluk Bayraktar. Baykar is currently focused on getting as many components manufactured in-house as possible, Bayraktar said in an interview on the sidelines of the SAHA defense exhibition in Istanbul. “As supply chain continuity is a major challenge globally, we are focusing on in-house production. The missing part is the engine and we are now starting our own development project,” Bayraktar said. Over the next five years, Baykar will invest $300 million to develop a turboprop engine for the Akinci drone. This will be followed by the development of a turbofan engine for the Kizilelma unmanned air-to-air combat vehicle, which is currently undergoing flight tests. Akinci and Kizilelma currently use Ukrainian-made engines. Bayraktar said the company also recently signed an agreement with Ukraine's "Ivchenko-Progress" to jointly develop a turbofan engine. In the long term, the company is betting on autonomous air-to-air drones capable of combat operations instead of fighter jets.