A visualisation of the Akinci UAV, seen here with the Roketsan UAV-230 air-to-surface ballistic supersonic missile. (Roketsan)
Jakarta has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Turkish defence company Baykar that paves the way for the latter to manufacture its range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Indonesia.
The MOU is one of 13 agreements that were inked between Indonesia and Türkiye in Bogor on the sidelines of a 12 February meeting between the leaders of the two countries, reads a statement released by the Indonesian president's office on the same day.
In addition to the MOU signed with Baykar, Indonesia and Türkiye also inked a general agreement to co-operate more closely in defence technology development. The 11 other MOUs pertain to matters in other sectors including education, media, and agriculture.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto at the presidential palace in Bogor as part of the former's series of diplomatic visits to the region.
The MOU to manufacture UAVs was signed with Indonesian defence holding company Republikorp, which owns a portfolio of defence-related companies including an aeronautics firm.
Janes has since verified with the media and information bureau of the Indonesian president's office on 13 February that no contracts for the UAVs were signed at the event.
Indonesia is known to have been eyeing the Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci lines of strike-capable UAVs since at least 2022.
A source who spoke to Janes at the Indo Defence 2022 exhibition confirmed that talks between Indonesian officials and Baykar had taken place to discuss possible procurements of the TB2 and Akinci UAVs.
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