Turkish drone magnate Baykar became the export champion in Türkiye with $1.76 billion in exports, as the country strives to nationalize and further develop its defense sector.

Domestically-produced Bayraktar TB2 and Bayraktar Akıncı drones accounted for 32% of all defense industry exports in the country in 2023, according to Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar.

In a statement posted on X, Haluk Görgün, the head of Türkiye's Defense Industry Agency (SBB) hailed the growth of Türkiye’s defense industry, as he said it was crucial to ensure that the growth is sustainable.

The Turkish defense and aviation industry achieved a new record in export figures in 2023 with total exports amounting to nearly $5.5 billion (TL 163.8 billion), up 27.1% year-over-year.

"It further encourages us to know that a strong will supports everything that we do," Görgün said, as he thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his unwavering support for domestic and national production vision.

In the past decade, Türkiye exported 230 different defense industry products to around 185 countries, according to Görgün.

Throughout the year, the Turkish defense industry particularly excelled in exports of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), armored vehicles, naval platforms, ammunition and weapon systems. Strengthening its presence in the countries where exports were made, the sector also gained new customers this year.

The aviation industry also exports aircraft structures, equipment and maintenance-repair services for the world's leading platform manufacturers.

Last year, unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer Baykar inked what is said to be the largest defense export contract in Türkiye's history with Saudi Arabia, which came on the sidelines of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s three-country Gulf tour that included stops in Jeddah, Doha and Abu Dhabi.

Since the beginning of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) related research and development (R&D) studies in 2003, Baykar has earned 83% of all its revenues from exports.