Although the amount of the contract has not yet been announced, international media reports that Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar Makina has secured the largest contract ever. The contact came from Saudi Arabia, which purchased the Bayraktar Akinci combat drone (UCAV).
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Because the contract has strategic value, the signing was on July 18, 2023, witnessed by Turkish President Erdogan and the crown prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman.
Quoted from Breaking Defense (18/7/2023), CEO of Baykar Makina, Haluk Bayraktar, called the agreement with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense the largest defense and aviation export contract in history. Haluk Bayraktar revealed that another big deal was also in place for the purchase of smart munitions to weaponize Akinci.
First flight on December 6 2019, Bayraktar Akinci has so far produced 23 units for the needs of the Turkish and Pakistani Air Forces.
Akinci, which refers to “Raider” in Turkish, is a HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) qualified drone. This drone can carry out air-to-ground and air-to-air operations. Akinci is 12.2 meters long, 4.1 meters high, and has a wingspan of 20 meters.
The Akinci has a maximum take-off weight of 5,500 kilograms, with a maximum payload of 1,350 kilograms, and can fly to an altitude of 40,000 feet (12,192 meters).
The armament options prepared for A Kunci are MAM-L, MAM-C, Javelin, L-UMTAS, UMTAS, Bozok missiles, MK-81, MK-82, MK-83 bombs, Precision Guidance Kit (HGK) smart bombs, MK-82 Winged Guidance Kit (KGK), Teber-82, Gökdoğan Missile, Bozdoğan Missile and SOM-A.
This drone is equipped with electro-optic/infrared/laser designation (EO/IR/LD) sensors, multi-mode active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, and signal intelligence system (SIGINT). The Akinci drone collects and processes data from onboard sensors and cameras using powerful artificial intelligence features.
In trials, Bayraktar Akinci with full payload managed to fly for 13 hours and 24 minutes. A fully loaded Akinci was also reported to have successfully flown at an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,144 meters equivalent).
By using 2x AI-450T turboprop engines produced by DP Ivchenko-Progress Ukraine, the two engines are capable of producing 900 hp. The Akinci drone (without payload) has undergone a flight test session at an altitude of 11,600 meters with an endurance of 25 hours 46 minutes, and covered a distance of 7,507 km.
