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French defense electronics firm Safran and Turkish drone maker Baykar have signed a strategic partnership Tuesday to integrate Safran’s advanced sensors, navigation systems and guided munitions directly into Baykar’s unmanned platforms.
The deal signals a significant warming of Franco-Turkish defense-industrial ties after years of tension, according to the French defense publication Zone Militaire.
The two companies said in a joint statement that the accord covered "co-development of integrated solutions combining optronic sensors, navigation systems and guided armament capabilities, intended for both drone platforms and air-to-ground operations."
The TB2 armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Baykar's most widely exported platform, will be equipped with systems from Safran's Euroflir optronic range, which Zone Militaire noted would significantly enhance its "surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting capabilities."
The TB2 had previously used the MX-15 system developed by Canadian firm L3Harris Wescam.
"The integration of our Euroflir optronic systems as well as our advanced positioning, navigation and timing technologies aboard Baykar's TB2 drones marks a new milestone in operational performance," said Alexandre Ziegler, head of the Defense division at Safran Electronics & Defense, who signed the agreement alongside Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar.
"Through this partnership, we aim to offer innovative solutions and open new perspectives on the international market," Bayraktar said.
The deal also carries an explicit commercial dimension, and both companies are committed to jointly promoting their co-developed solutions to international clients, French media reported.
Zone Militaire noted the geopolitical backdrop: in November 2024, French Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Thierry Burkhard had classified Ankara among France's "strategic competitors," alongside Moscow, Beijing and Tehran.
Weeks later, a French Senate report argued for a "strengthening of the Franco-Turkish relationship to act jointly for peace" and called for deeper bilateral military cooperation.
Franco-Turkish operational contacts have also resumed, most recently a port call by the French frigate Courbet in Istanbul, but Zone Militaire described the Safran-Baykar partnership as the moment the warming "will undoubtedly begin to take shape."
The publication also noted potential complications in Athens: Greece has ordered Safran's Patroller tactical drone and is a member of the Rafale consortium's economic interest group, meaning Safran now has a significant defense-industrial relationship with two NATO allies with competing territorial claims in the Eastern Mediterranean.
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