Turkish defence company Baykar is planning to complete the construction of its manufacturing plant in Ukraine in two years, its chief executive said on Thursday, after the company became highly renowned for their drones' success in thwarting Russian forces, Reuters reports.
The aerial drones supplied to Ukraine by Baykar were instrumental in Ukraine's defense against Russian armour and anti-aircraft systems in the first few weeks of the Russian military operation.
Its Bayraktar TB2 drone gained so much prominence with the public that Ukrainians composed a song about it and some allies launched unprecedented crowdfunded campaigns to buy more.
As part of an agreement between Turkey and Ukraine, signed just before Russia's Feb. 24 military operation, Baykar had agreed to build its second manufacturing plant in Ukraine.
CEO Haluk Bayraktar told Reuters on Thursday that plans were moving ahead despite some obstacles created by Russia's military operation. "Our plan is moving ahead," the chief executive said on the sidelines of the SAHA defense expo in Istanbul.
"Right now we have architectural design. The detailed design phase is finished. And we will move ahead with construction actually... within two years we would like to finish it."
