In the near future Ukraine wants to establish the production of Turkish drones Bayraktar, which was recently used for the first time in Donbass, said the Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar
According to the diplomat, many countries are interested in these drones and there are already several tentative contracts, but Turkey’s production capacity is almost full.
“Additional full-cycle production capacity is also in the interest of the Turkish side to explore new markets and jointly conduct both tests and later, perhaps, training of some foreign colleagues to own this technology and jointly shape the defence sector”, – Bodnar said.
The ambassador said that the Bayraktar centre for development and repair of drones and a training centre will soon start operating in Ukraine. Its establishment is envisaged by a memorandum signed by the Turkish UAV manufacturer and the Ukrainian Defence Ministry.
“It is probably a matter of months rather than years. And work is already under way to allocate a suitable plot of land in order to start substantive work on the construction of this storage and repair centre. And the work to establish production facilities and the production of Bayraktar in Ukraine is going on in parallel. I will not say a specific timeframe, but in fact the work is progressing at a very fast pace and it is definitely not years, but months”, – Bodnar announced.
Earlier, France and Germany expressed concern over Ukraine’s use of the Bayraktar combat drone in Donbass, calling it a direct violation of the Minsk agreements.
We shall remind you that Kiev troops used a Turkish UAV in Donbass on 27 October. According to Ukrainian reports, it allegedly “destroyed enemy weapons” with a guided bomb.