Turkey is set to deliver an undisclosed number of armed drones to Kuwait in a contract worth $370 million, Turkish defence firm Baykar said on Wednesday.
International demand for Baykar’s TB2 drones soared after they featured in conflicts in Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan and interest in them increased further following their use by Ukraine’s military to thwart Russian forces.
“A contract worth $370 million was signed with Kuwait Defence Ministry to export Bayraktar TB2 drones,” Baykar said in a statement.
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.
Kuwait will get 18 Bayraktar TB2 as part of the deal, a source familiar with the agreement told Middle East Eye.
An industry insider told MEE that each Bayraktar TB2 goes for about $5m and each aircraft requires 100 MAM-L smart micro munitions, which together are worth $15m. There is also additional cost for training and command-and-control centres, which varies based on the number of drones purchased. Each centre can control up to six drones.
Sources: Middle East Eye; Reuters