First Saudis complete Akinci training
Images of the graduation ceremony showed Akıncıs with what were almost certainly RSAF serial numbers armed with İHA-230 air-launched ballistic missiles. (Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia )
The first Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) personnel to be trained to operate the Bayraktar Akıncı unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) graduated in Türkiye on 13 October.
The Saudi Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the graduation ceremony at Baykar's facility in Çorlu was attended by RSAF Commander Lieutenant General Prince Turki bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz and Ibrahim bin Ahmed al-Suwayed, RSAF undersecretary for procurement and armament.
It released images of the 76 enlisted RSAF personnel who graduated the course alongside 36 officers, some of them senior ranks who presumably were attending the ceremony without completing the course, including one from the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF).
Saudi Arabia's procurement of an unspecified number of Akıncıs was announced during a visit to the kingdom by Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in July 2023, but no deliveries have been confirmed yet. Baykar said at the time that Akıncıs would be delivered to both the RSAF and RSNF under “the biggest defence and aviation export contract” in Türkiye's history and that it included technology transfer that would enable the UAVs to be jointly produced in Saudi Arabia.
This made Saudi Arabia the only country to order the Akıncı that was not already operating the smaller Bayraktar TB2 UAV.
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