TSAMTO, October 26. The Angolan authorities have sent Ankara a request about the possibility of acquiring Turkish-made UAVs, which may become Bayraktar TB2, previously sold to Morocco, Poland and Ukraine.
According to the Daily Sabah newspaper, this was stated on October 18 following a visit to Angola during a tour of three African countries by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Head of State also announced the interest of the Angolan Armed Forces in the purchase of armored personnel carriers.
For the first time, Angolan President Joao Lawrence announced his interest in acquiring Turkish UAVs during his visit to Turkey three months ago.
As planned, further negotiations on the acquisition of unmanned systems will be held by the defense ministers of the two countries. As for defense cooperation with Angola, R. Erdogan stressed that Turkey is ready to provide all possible assistance to Angola and will continue to support Angola in its fight against terrorism.
The statement of the Angolan leadership was made against the background of growing interest in Turkish UAVs after their successful use in international conflicts. Recently, the sale of UAVs to Morocco and Ethiopia was announced. This was followed by a statement by the Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varanka about Turkey's submission of a proposal for the supply of UAVs to the UK, which is allegedly "very interested" in buying Turkish-made armed drones.
Ukraine and Poland have also acquired Turkish armed UAVs, the cost of which, according to military experts, is lower than that of analogues produced in Israel, China and the United States.
The Turkish government is using the growing interest in armed UAVs in the world to increase exports and develop the country's defense industry. Last year, the Turkish Armed Forces used national-made UAVs in Syria and Libya, where Ankara supported the actions of the government in Tripoli in the fight against the Libyan National Army of General Khalifa Haftar. In Nagorno-Karabakh, UAVs were used by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
According to the Turkish Exporters Association (TIM), the total volume of exports of defense and aerospace enterprises of Turkey for the first three quarters of 2021 amounted to $ 2,109 billion, which is 38.7% more than last year ($ 1.52 billion).
