Türkiye's Baykar to deliver drones to Kuwait in $370 million deal

Türkiye is set to deliver an undisclosed number of armed drones to Kuwait in a contract worth $370 million, according to the Turkish defence firm Baykar.

"A contract worth $370 million was signed with Kuwait Defence Ministry to export Bayraktar TB2 drones," Baykar said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement did not reveal how many drones would be delivered to Kuwait or when.

"Baykar won out in competition with significant firms from America, Europe and China, in the (bidding) process going on since 2019," the statement said.

Bayraktar TB2 armed drones had great success in its last demo flight in July 2019 in Kuwait.

READ MORE: Turkish firm Baykar signs export contract for TB2 drones with Albania

In difficult geographical and climatic conditions such as high temperatures and sandstorms, the drone flew for 27 hours and three minutes in the air, a first for the Turkish company.

The drone also reportedly broke its own record for staying in the air at that time.

With the Kuwait purchase, the number of countries that signed contracts for the Bayraktar TB2 increased to 28.

Since the beginning of the UAV R&D process in 2003, Baykar has earned 75 percent of all its revenues from exports.

According to the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) in 2021, it became the export leader of the defence and aerospace industry.

Baykar, whose export rate was 99.3 percent in the contracts signed in 2022, reported $1.18 billion in revenue.

In December, Albania also purchased three Bayraktar TB2 drones, the model that is becoming increasingly popular after its use by the Ukrainian forces against Russian forces.

READ MORE: Poland becomes first NATO and EU country to buy Turkish combat drones