Saudi Arabia has agreed to buy Turkish drones in the biggest defence contract in Turkey’s history with President Tayyip Erdogan on a tour in SA.
Saudi state news agency SPA reported that Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attended the signing ceremony between Baykar, the Turkish defence firm Baykar and the Saudi defence ministry.
Erdogan arrived in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah on Monday for the first stop of a Gulf tour.
Saudi Arabia will acquire the drones “with the aim of enhancing the readiness of the kingdom’s armed forces and bolstering its defence and manufacturing capabilities,” Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman stated in a tweet.
Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar said it was the biggest defence and aviation export contract in Turkey’s history. “We signed a contract with the Saudi Arabian defence ministry for the Bayraktar Akinci (unmanned combat aerial vehicle) export and cooperation,” he said in a Twitter post.
Developing a local military industry has been part of an ambitious plan by Prince Mohammed to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil.
The two countries also inked several memorandums of understanding in sectors including energy, real estate and direct investments, SPA said.
