A Turkish company, Fly Bvlos Technology, established via the Gebze Technical University (GTU) Technopark, has signed an export deal with a U.K.-based company for its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
Named "Jackal," the UAV was developed by Bvlos Technology in cooperation with Maxwell Innovations.
With the agreement signed with British Flyby Technology, the U.K. will be the first country to acquire this particular drone from Turkey.
A total of five UAVs with a carrying capacity of 15 kilograms (33 pounds) and a range of 130 kilometers (80.8 miles) will be exported to the U.K. under the scope of the deal.
The signing ceremony was held at the GTU Congress and Culture Center and was attended by GTU Rector Muhammed Hasan Aslan, Fly Bvlos General Manager Murat Islıoğlu and Flyby Technology founder Jon Parker along with the related parties.
Jackal has a special design that can be used in cargo and logistics services in the aviation industry. Since it is a UAV capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), Jackal can land and take off in any area without the need for a runway.
The UAV is also designed to fly in harsh weather conditions, in all kinds of scenarios, for tasks such as delivering humanitarian aid, monitoring and observation and sensitive data logistics.
Parker, stating that their company is a school that provides pilot training worldwide, said that the new generations should be trained with new-generation vehicles.
Stating that the UAV they purchased was the latest technology, Parker said: "We purchased five vehicles in our first order. This cost a total of $1.2 million. However, when we consider the future, this is a very small investment."
"Turkey is really on the way to becoming a superpower in this regard," he said.
GTU’s Aslan also commented that the GTU Dronepark is the "first" in Turkey and noted that the aviation cluster on drone technologies was brought together there and the Turkish Drone Consortium was established within this structure.
Noting that the Jackal UAV was produced as a result of this construction, Aslan said: "We are happy and proud. We expect other companies to join this consortium. We want this consortium to grow."
By becoming a bridge between the university and Turkey’s industrialists, Aslan said, "particularly in this field," they try to "ensure the production of much newer, advanced technological drones and products."
"At the same time," he went on to say, "we aim to increase the project capacity of our university and to make our university's name to be heard globally."
Murat Islıoğlu, for his part, pointed out that it was not easy to achieve this success in four months and that it was important to sell the UAV to a European country.
"Jackal is designed for cargo and logistics transportation for the aviation industry. However, since the software and hardware belong entirely to our company, several missions can be developed if needed. We are at a point where we can develop and service this in any field that may be needed," he said.
Islıoğlu said they aim to bring together the newly trained pilots with this aircraft.
He added that the U.K. chose Jackal for the transportation of smart or expensive medicine between hospitals and for cargo use.