The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine signed an agreement with the Turkish company Baykar to build a service center for the repair and maintenance of drones in Ukraine.

The press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported on this.

The agreement on the construction of a service center for the repair and maintenance of unmanned aerial vehicles in Ukraine was concluded as part of the development of the already signed agreement between the governments of Ukraine and Turkey. It was concluded in January 2023. The document deals with cooperation in the fields of high-tech, aviation and space industries.

“We are moving forward, and it is important for us to create our own hub in Ukraine to service drones. This joint project will lay the foundation for our systemic work and create jobs in Ukraine. We reached an agreement, the center will be created in the near future,” said State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kostiantyn Vashchenko.

He also added that today’s policy of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry is aimed at strengthening its own capabilities in the repair of military equipment.

“We understand that we need to develop our own infrastructure, create our own jobs, train our own personnel so that even after victory we have the opportunity to be as effective as possible and use the available resources to maintain the state’s defense capability at the proper level,” Vashchenko said.

As previously reported, in 2021, Ukraine and Turkey signed a memorandum on the construction of a joint training and testing center for the operation of drones.

In February 2023, the Ministry of Defense announced the agreement on the site for the development of the center. The location was chosen together with investors and interested parties.

The main tasks for the future center will be maintenance, repair and modernization of equipment. On the basis of the same center, training of personnel related to the operation of drones by the Baykar company will be conducted.

The construction and arrangement of the center involve the transfer of the company’s technologies and the localization of part of the production.

The Turkish company is interested in in-depth cooperation with Ukraine. Therefore, it plans to build a number of such centers in the future. Potentially, in peacetime, they can provide service for other countries operating Baykar systems in Europe.

The next stage of cooperation should be the establishment of Ukrainian-Turkish production of UAVs. Baykar is investing its own funds in the construction of a factory for the production of drones in Ukraine.