Reports · Oct 18, 2026
Turkiye Expands Drone Warfare Export Programme Across Central Asia, Signing Bayraktar TB3 Deals with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Baykar Defence signed government-to-government contracts in Ankara on 8 September 2026 for the supply of Bayraktar TB3 combat drones to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, each ordering 18 aircraft with associated ground control stations and maintenance training programmes. The contracts, worth a combined USD 480 million, extend Turkiye's drone export reach into Central Asia for the first time and include technology co-production provisions that will see components manufactured in each buyer country.
Contents
Key takeaways
- 18 Bayraktar TB3 systems each for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, valued at USD 480 million combined.
- Technology co-production provisions for selected components in each country.
- Baykar to establish maintenance and training centres in Almaty and Tashkent.
- Russia has expressed concern through diplomatic channels about NATO-adjacent systems in Central Asia.
- Agreements include a joint development clause for future unmanned systems applications.
System Specifications
The Bayraktar TB3 is the carrier-capable variant of Baykar's medium-altitude long-endurance drone family, but the Central Asian contracts specify the land-based configuration with folding wings removed. Each aircraft carries a domestically produced turbojet engine developed with Ivchenko-Progress technology and a multi-sensor electro-optical and synthetic aperture radar payload. The TB3's standoff anti-armour missile capability — using the domestic MAM-T munition — was cited by both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as a key selection criterion.
Industrial Provisions
The co-production clauses — a Baykar standard offering since 2024 — designate specific non-critical components for local manufacture. Kazakhstan will produce aluminium structural elements and wiring harnesses at the KazMunayGas aerospace subsidiary in Almaty. Uzbekistan's Uzpromstroybank industrial arm will manufacture ground support equipment. Neither country will receive the core avionics or propulsion technology, but the co-production provisions create an indigenous aerospace manufacturing base that strengthens the bilateral relationship beyond the initial contract.
Russian Response
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov raised the contracts at a Collective Security Treaty Organisation consultation meeting, describing them as 'inconsistent with CSTO members' defence coordination obligations'. Kazakhstan, a CSTO member, responded that its procurement decisions fall within its sovereign rights and that the TB3 is a defensive system not targeted at any CSTO partner. Uzbekistan is not a CSTO member and made no such statement.
Sources
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