Turkey has expanded exports of armed drones, concluding trade transactions with Morocco and Ethiopia, after their successful use in international conflicts, reports Haqqin.az with reference to the sources Reuters.
Any delivery of drones in Ethiopia can cause friction already in stretched relationships between Ankara and Cairir, which in the disaster with Addis Ababa due to hydroelectric power plant dam on the blue Nile.
Two sources in Egyptian security services stated that Cairo asked the United States and some European countries to help him freeze any such deal. The third Egyptian source reported that any agreement should be achieved and clarified during the negotiations between Cairir and Ankara, as they are trying to establish relations, reports the British agency.
Turkey, Ethiopia and Morocco were not officially announced about the transactions on armed drone, but several sources familiar with the agreements reported Reuters details.
One of the Turkish officials said that Ethiopia and Morocco requested the purchase of Bayraktar TB2 drones in agreements that may also include warranties for spare parts and training. The diplomat who wished to remain unnamed, stressed separately that Morocco had already received the first batch of combat drones ordered in May. Ethiopia also plans to purchase them, but the status of this order is still less clear.
Ukraine and Poland, Turkey’s partner on NATO, also ordered armed drones, which, in the opinion of military experts, cheaper than those produced in Israel, China and the USA.
Official data demonstrate that the defense and aviation export of Turkey in Morocco and Ethiopia has grown sharply over the past two months, but they have no detailed data on sales of drones.
“Growing interest in armed drones is an incentive for the Turkish government, which is trying to increase exports to help solve its economic problems, and emphasizes the growing importance of armed drones in the modern war,” writes Reuters. – Turkish military used drones last year in the Turkish Military Syria, as well as in Libya. In the Nagorno-Karabakh, drones helped the Allies of Turkey Azerbaijan to defeat the Armed Forces of Armenia.
According to the Assembly of Turkish exporters, the export of defense and aviation equipment in Ethiopia increased to $ 51 million in the first three months of this year from 203 thousand dollars for the same period last year.
Exports to Morocco over the same period amounted to 78.6 million dollars (62 million dollars only in September) compared with 402 thousand dollars last year.
In general, in the first three quarters of this year, Turkish defense and aviation exports amounted to 2.1 billion dollars, which is 39% more than $ 1.5 billion last year. “