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Baykar: Company Profile, Key Products and Customers in Africa

This Baykar company profile sets out who runs the Turkish drone maker, what it sells and where its money comes from, with the status of each African customer labelled by the evidence available at the time of writing. Baykar is a family-led company based in Istanbul that grew from a machine-parts workshop into the world’s largest exporter of armed unmanned aircraft, by its own account. It now owns an Italian aerospace business and shares a joint venture with Leonardo. Several claims about its African footprint rest on single sources, so each is marked as operator, ordered or reported.

Baykar company profile: ownership, leadership and history

Baykar is led by two members of the Bayraktar family. Selçuk Bayraktar is chairman of the board and chief technology officer, according to the company’s own biography page. Haluk Bayraktar is chief executive, a role confirmed in Piaggio Aerospace’s announcement of the 2025 takeover. The sources reviewed do not publish a shareholding breakdown. Milliyet reported in August 2026 that the company says it has funded its projects from its own resources, without state cash incentives or bank loans.

Özdemir Bayraktar founded Baykar Makina in Istanbul in 1981 as an auto-parts and machining business. In 2004 the family refocused it on unmanned aircraft. Selçuk Bayraktar returned to Türkiye in 2007, the year the Bayraktar Mini UAV entered military service, and the TB2 followed into service in 2014, according to a Tearline.mil history of the firm.

Research, development and production sit at the Özdemir Bayraktar campus in Esenyurt, Istanbul. A flight training and test centre at Çorlu supported the Akıncı, which made its first flight there on 6 December 2019.

Product line: from mini UAVs to Kızılelma

Baykar sells a ladder of unmanned systems, from small tactical aircraft to a jet-powered unmanned combat aircraft. The table summarises the main types in the Baykar company profile and what is publicly known about their status. For operator-by-operator detail on the TB2, see the Bayraktar TB2 in Africa hub.

System	Role	Status (source date)
Bayraktar Mini UAV	Small tactical reconnaissance	In Turkish military service since 2007
Bayraktar TB2	Armed medium-altitude UCAV	In service since 2014; export agreements with 36 countries (Baykar, January 2026)
Bayraktar Akıncı	Twin-turboprop high-altitude long-endurance UCAV, about 6,000 kg take-off weight	In service since 2021; export agreements with 16 countries; 110 delivered by early January 2026, target of 120 by end-2026 (IHA, via Army Recognition)
Bayraktar TB3	Folding-wing UCAV for short-deck ships	Operated from TCG Anadolu in a NATO exercise on 15 February 2026; no export customer named
Bayraktar Kızılelma	Jet-powered unmanned combat aircraft	Serial production announced August 2025; Baykar’s CEO said in May 2026 it aimed to start serial deliveries that year

Kızılelma has one disclosed export deal. Haluk Bayraktar said at SAHA 2026 that Baykar had signed for 12 aircraft with Indonesia, with first deliveries targeted for 2028.

Acquisitions and partnerships: Piaggio Aerospace and Leonardo

On 30 June 2025 Baykar completed the purchase of the business complexes of Piaggio Aero Industries and Piaggio Aviation, which had been under extraordinary administration. Piaggio Aerospace said Baykar planned to relaunch the P.180 Avanti EVO, build the Akıncı and TB2 at the sites and set up a European maintenance centre. The price has not been disclosed. Baykar pledged to keep staffing at the Villanova d’Albenga and Genoa sites.

Leonardo and Baykar signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2025, which led to LBA Systems, owned 50:50 and based in Italy, according to Leonardo. The venture was declared fully operational at the Farnborough Airshow on 21 July 2026. Its portfolio lists six systems: KALKAN, two TB2 variants, Astore Levante (derived from the TB3), Akıncı and Kızılelma. The first Astore Levante airframes are being built for the Italian Air Force, with Kızılelma planned at Leonardo sites and TB2 and Akıncı at the former Piaggio plant.

For this Baykar company profile, the Italian assets matter because they give the firm a European certification route and a production base outside Türkiye. No link to African orders has been stated.

Baykar company profile: export performance and revenue

Baykar reported exports of $2.2 billion in 2025 on total revenue of $2.5 billion, an export share of 88%. In 2024 the company reported $1.8 billion in exports, about 90% of revenue. These are company figures, not audited accounts.

Baykar said it ranked second among Turkish defence exporters in 2025, citing data presented at an SSB conference, after leading the sector for four years to 2024. Türkiye’s defence and aviation exports reached $10.05 billion in 2025, the head of the Defence Industries Agency (SSB) announced on 3 January 2026. The two figures may not share a scope, so the implied share of about one fifth is indicative only.

Contract coverage reached 37 countries in the 2025 release, with 36 for the TB2 and 16 for the Akıncı. These count export agreements, a different measure from aircraft delivered.

Baykar in Africa: customers by country and status

Within the Baykar company profile, Africa is the region with the most customers named by the company. It listed 12 in a November 2025 release: Mali, Morocco, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Libya, Burkina Faso, Togo, Niger, Djibouti, Somalia, Rwanda and Kenya. It did not say which product each bought. The table adds the public evidence for each, with the status label used on this site.

Country	Product	Status and basis
Morocco	TB2; Akıncı	TB2: operator, 13 ordered in 2021 for a reported $70 million. Akıncı: reported delivered from February 2025, number undisclosed, no official statement
Mali	TB2; Akıncı	Operator. TB2 in service since 2023; at least two Akıncı handed over on 30 January 2026 and a further batch on 30 July 2026, size undisclosed
Somalia	TB2; Akıncı	TB2 operator. Two Akıncı reported delivered in March 2025, per a Somali minister’s statement
Ethiopia	TB2; Akıncı	TB2: operator, at least four seen in satellite imagery. Akıncı: reported, inferred from a Baykar video showing an Ethiopian flag in 2023
Burkina Faso	TB2; Akıncı	TB2: five reported delivered in April and May 2022, unconfirmed. Akıncı: photographed in a presidency image
Niger	TB2	Operator: six delivered in May 2022; see why Niger bought the Bayraktar TB2
Togo	TB2	Reported delivered in August 2022, from flight tracking and imagery, with no official announcement
Kenya	TB2	Operator: at least six seen in a hangar; Baykar announced trainee graduation in August 2024
Djibouti	TB2	Two shown at a national parade; neither government announced a sale
Nigeria	TB2	Reported (unconfirmed): Baykar images of TB2s with Nigerian flags and trainees in 2022; no official confirmation found
Libya, Rwanda	Not specified	Named by Baykar as customers; no type, number or delivery evidence found

Tunisia and Angola appear on some customer lists, but the sources reviewed gave no Baykar-specific details. Turkish rivals also sell in the region, as the guide to African operators of the Anka and Aksungur shows.

Local production, training and support

Morocco is the only African country in the sources reviewed with a reported Baykar local entity. Atlas Defence was registered in Rabat on 5 December 2024 with capital of 2.5 million dirhams, about $250,000, and is owned equally by Haluk and Selçuk Bayraktar, according to Morocco World News. It plans a site at Benslimane, about 50 km south-east of Casablanca, near a Royal Air Force logistics base.

The scope is disputed. Some reports cited by Morocco World News describe a facility producing a tailored product for the Royal Armed Forces. One source, quoted from Middle East Eye, said it mainly services aircraft already sold and that the modest capital makes a full line unlikely. Recruitment for five roles, including a test pilot, began in February 2026. No investment figure or opening date has been confirmed in the reports reviewed. For the wider picture, see Turkey’s arms deals with Morocco.

Elsewhere, support is delivered through training and transfers. Reporting in January 2026 said over 2,000 personnel had received Akıncı pilot or technician training since 2021. No African assembly line outside Morocco has been announced in the sources reviewed.

Risks and limits

Much of the data in this Baykar company profile is company-reported, and independent verification is thin. Contract values are rarely published, and African fleet sizes mostly come from imagery and local reporting.

Combat losses and disputes also shape the record. Algeria said it intercepted a Malian Akıncı near Tin Zaouatine at the end of March 2025, while Mali described a technical failure inside its own territory. A TB2 reportedly crashed or was shot down in Oromia, Ethiopia, in May 2024. In November 2026, Sudan’s Army claimed it downed an FH-95 drone, and an Akıncı link rests on an unverified video, as covered in the Sudan FH-95 report.

With 88% of revenue from exports, Baykar depends on foreign approvals and political relations.

FAQ

Who owns Baykar?

Baykar is led by the Bayraktar family. Selçuk Bayraktar is chairman and chief technology officer, and Haluk Bayraktar is chief executive. The shareholding split is not published in the sources reviewed. Milliyet reported in August 2026 that the company says it funds projects from its own resources.

How much does Baykar export?

Baykar reported $2.2 billion in exports in 2025, 88% of $2.5 billion in revenue, and $1.8 billion in 2024. These are company figures. Türkiye’s total defence and aviation exports for 2025 were $10.05 billion, announced by the SSB head on 3 January 2026.

Which African countries buy from Baykar?

Baykar named 12 African customers in November 2025: Mali, Morocco, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Libya, Burkina Faso, Togo, Niger, Djibouti, Somalia, Rwanda and Kenya. Evidence of actual delivery varies. Mali, Morocco, Somalia, Niger and Kenya have the strongest public records. Nigeria, Libya and Rwanda remain thinly documented.

Does Baykar build drones in Africa?

Not yet confirmed. Baykar registered a Moroccan subsidiary, Atlas Defence, and began recruiting in February 2026 for a Benslimane site. Reports disagree on whether it will produce drones or mainly maintain existing ones, and no opening date has been confirmed at the time of writing.

Sources

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Adrian Cole Administrator All articles

Africa defence and security correspondent at DefenceMENA, covering procurement, defence industry and armed forces across the continent.

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