"The meeting with Bayraktar focused on advancements in aerospace innovation, unmanned aerial systems, and emerging technologies," the Directorate General of Public Relations said.
ACM Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu’s May 2026 Türkiye delegation
In May 2026 the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu, travelled to Türkiye at an official invitation. During the visit he met Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Güler, Turkish Air Force Commander General Ziya Cemal Kadioglu, and Baykar Technologies Group Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar. The PAF’s public affairs office framed the Baykar meeting around "aerospace innovation, unmanned aerial systems, and emerging technologies," and—notably—Sidhu met with no other Turkish defence original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) during the trip.
PAF procurements: Bayraktar TB2 and the Akıncı-B fleet
The PAF’s working relationship with Baykar began with modest procurements that carried operational weight. By April 2022 the PAF had fielded four Bayraktar TB2 medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicles at Murid, alongside two ground control station sets. The Bayraktar Akıncı-B arrived in 2022–2023, providing the PAF with a twin-engine heavy MALE platform. Quwa estimates the PAF’s current Akıncı fleet at two to four units—small numbers that, the reporting notes, fit a PAF pattern of inducting platforms first in limited quantities with an eye to larger purchases later.
Co-development at NASTP and the rise of Baykar Technologies Pakistan
Baykar’s initial sales led to in-country collaboration. The company set up a presence at the National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTP) and co-developed two original weapons with PAF entities: the KaGeM V3 miniature turbojet-powered air-launched cruise missile and loitering munition, and the YiHA loitering munition series. Quwa reports that neither product had been part of Baykar’s existing catalogue and that both were designed around PAF requirements.
Baykar later wound down its embedded role at NASTP and created Baykar Technologies Pakistan (baykartech.pk) as a direct subsidiary to engage Air Headquarters (AHQ) and Pakistan’s broader drone and loitering-munitions market. On 5 December 2025 Bloomberg reported that Türkiye and Pakistan were in talks to establish a drone assembly plant, with discussions having "advanced significantly"; Bloomberg specifically mentioned "stealth" drones, a reference Quwa links to the Bayraktar Kızılelma. Baykar Technologies Pakistan has been actively hiring engineers, which Quwa interprets as signalling ambitions for in-country development and production rather than simple final assembly.
The PAF’s selective engagement: Baykar, not TAI or others
Sidhu’s itinerary is striking for its selectivity. Among Turkish defence OEMs he met only Baykar; he did not visit Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), Aselsan, Roketsan, or any other firm. That choice sharpens the central question Quwa poses: why has Baykar, a private-sector drone manufacturer, emerged as the PAF’s preferred Turkish aerospace partner despite TAI’s deeper institutional relationship with Ankara, its broader product catalogue that includes both drones and crewed platforms, and the fact that TAI has its own subsidiary in Pakistan?
What the Pakistan Air Force, Baykar, and Turkish OEMs are watching
- The Pakistan Air Force: will be watching how co-developed systems such as the KaGeM V3 and YiHA move from prototype and limited induction to operational scale, and whether the small Akıncı fleet expands beyond the two-to-four-unit estimate reported by Quwa.
- Baykar / Baykar Technologies Pakistan: appears focused on converting early sales and co-development into an onshore footprint—winding down its NASTP presence, hiring engineers, and positioning the subsidiary to engage AHQ and the broader Pakistani market, with assembly-plant talks reported as "advanced significantly" by Bloomberg.
- Turkish OEMs such as TAI, Aselsan, and Roketsan: will be monitoring the implications of the CAS’s exclusive meeting with Baykar for institutional ties and competitive access to Pakistan, particularly given TAI’s existing relationship and local presence.
The facts assembled—limited but deliberate PAF purchases of Baykar platforms, two PAF-designed weapons developed with Baykar, the transition from an embedded NASTP presence to a dedicated Baykar Technologies Pakistan subsidiary, an active engineering hiring campaign, and Bloomberg’s December 2025 reporting of "advanced" talks on a drone assembly plant—outline a clear trajectory. The CAS’s May 2026 meeting with Baykar, and his omission of TAI and other Turkish OEMs from the trip, indicate a shift from transactional supplier relationships toward deeper, Pakistan-based collaboration with a single Turkish private firm.
Source: Why the Pakistan Air Force Likes Working With Baykar Group — Quwa
