Turkey and UAE cozy up over drone, missile cooperation

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which have found themselves at odds over recent years, are indicating a rapprochement is underway as a result of negotiations over major defense projects .

Following the Arab Spring — pro-democratic protests and uprisings across the region that started in 2011 — the two countries differed on several geopolitical issues. For instance, during the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis, when the UAE decided to cut political and economic ties with the Gulf nation, Turkey opted to support Doha.

However, in the last year they have focused on strengthening bilateral ties through agreements in the defense and technology sectors, among others. In October, the chairman of the Emirati-owned defense company Edge Group visited Turkey to meet with some of the country’s major defense stakeholders.

“The Turkish market has done a great job in recent years at establishing a good ecosystem of defense players, similar to what the UAE has achieved and continues to work towards,” Faisal Al Bannai, chairman of the board of directors at Edge, told Defense News in an interview at the Dubai Airshow this week.

The executive said the company is banking on cooperation rather than competition with some of the biggest players in Turkish defense, with the aim of exploring acquisition and joint development programs focused on drones, missiles and subsystems.

“I don’t see the world as black and white; it is big enough for us all [defense companies] to exist in it. Sure, we can compete in some areas — that’s fine and normal — but there are also instances where it is better and more logical to cooperate,” Al Bannai said.

As an example, he cited the UAE’s purchase of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones , without disclosing the exact quantity.

“We are also in discussions, for instance, with Baykar to integrate our missiles on some of their drones and to possibly acquire the TB3 model eventually,” Al Bannai said, referring to the TB2 and TB3 drone manufacturer.

This deal could be similar to the one Edge has with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, which announced on Nov. 13 it agreed to integrate Edge-made precision-guided munitions and guided glide weapons onto the MQ-9B SkyGuardian drone.

Haluk Bayraktar, who leads Baykar, also confirmed ongoing talks over the firm’s platforms.

The TB3, the naval variant of the TB2, took its first flight late last month, according to the manufacturer.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

阿联酋迪拜——近年来关系紧张的土耳其和阿联酋表示，由于就重大国防项目展开谈判，两国关系正在缓和。

自2011年阿拉伯之春——席卷整个地区的民主抗议和起义——以来，两国在多个地缘政治问题上存在分歧。例如，在2017年卡塔尔外交危机期间，当阿联酋决定切断与这个海湾国家的政治和经济联系时，土耳其选择支持多哈。

然而，在过去一年里，双方重点加强了双边关系，尤其是在国防和科技领域签署了多项协议。10月，阿联酋国防企业Edge集团董事长访问土耳其，会见了该国一些主要的国防利益相关者。

Edge 董事会主席费萨尔·阿尔·班奈本周在迪拜航展上接受《防务新闻》采访时表示：“近年来，土耳其市场在建立良好的国防参与者生态系统方面做得非常出色，这与阿联酋已经取得的成就以及阿联酋正在继续努力的方向类似。”

该高管表示，公司寄希望于与土耳其国防领域的一些最大参与者进行合作而不是竞争，目的是探索以无人机、导弹和子系统为重点的采购和联合开发项目。

“我不认为世界非黑即白；世界足够大，足以容纳我们所有（国防公司）共存。当然，我们可以在某些领域竞争——这很正常——但也有一些情况下，合作更好、更合乎逻辑，”阿尔·班奈说道。

他举例说，阿联酋购买了土耳其制造的Bayraktar TB2无人机，但没有透露具体数量。

“例如，我们也在与 Baykar 公司进行讨论，将我们的导弹集成到他们的一些无人机上，并最终可能采购 TB3 型号的无人机，”Al Bannai 说，他指的是 TB2 和 TB3 无人机的制造商。

这项交易可能类似于 Edge 与通用原子航空系统公司达成的交易。通用原子航空系统公司于 11 月 13 日宣布，已同意将 Edge 制造的精确制导弹药和制导滑翔武器集成到 MQ-9B 天空卫士无人机上。

Baykar 的负责人 Haluk Bayraktar 也证实，公司正在就其平台进行谈判。

据制造商称，TB2 的海军版本 TB3 于上月底进行了首次飞行。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。