BAYKAR has signed export contracts with eight countries for AKINCI. According to open-source information, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are importing the UCAV. In addition to these countries, it is understood from video images that Ethiopia also supplied AKINCI UCAV.
According to the aircraft's tail number (S40), the 40th serial production AKINCI UCAV will be delivered to Ethiopia. It remains unclear how many units Ethiopia will supply in total. The East African country has previously supplied Bayraktar with TB2 Armed UAVs.
Ethiopia became the third foreign country to operate Akinci drones after Pakistan, which received them in April 2023 and Libya in May 2023.
Akinci can fly to an altitude of more than 11,000 m, with an endurance of 25 hours. It can be equipped with a Turkish Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.
Akıncı can carry a variety of weapons, including Smart Micro Munitions (MAM-L) missiles developed by Roketsan, Gökdoğan (Merlin), and Bozdoğan (Peregrine) air-to-air missiles.
This drone can also launch several other types of locally made ammunition, such as the Stand-Off Missile (SOM) made by Roketsan. This long-range air-to-surface cruise missile can reach targets up to 150 km.
