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November, 2026…
Türkiye is expanding its firefighting technology beyond fire detection by developing drones capable of dropping water directly onto forest fires, Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı has unveiled.
“We already use them to spot fires, but we’re talking about active firefighting here,” Yumaklı told a group of journalists during a press briefing in Istanbul.
The ministry is working with the defense industry on aircraft able to drop water over difficult terrain. Yumaklı said some Chinese applications operated in flatter, more accessible areas, while Türkiye needed drones capable of tackling fires in challenging landscapes.
He described the proposed capability as a world first and said the defense industry’s experience could help shorten development, with the technology potentially generating income for Türkiye.
The country already uses 14 Bayraktar TB2 drones to monitor forests, detect fires early and track firefighting operations. Yumaklı thanked manufacturer Baykar for support and adapting its technological advances to forestry operations.
Yumaklı noted that teams had responded to 6,219 fires so far in 2026, comprising 2,111 forest fires and 4,108 rural fires. Forest fires affected 24,527 hectares, with their number down about 35 percent and the burned area down about 68 percent from 2025.
“The new project would add firefighting capacity to drones’ existing surveillance role. The aim was to develop unmanned water-dropping aircraft as effective as the aerial vehicles already used to combat fires,” he added..
