The company BNT TMiH from Novi Travnik will produce unmanned aerial vehicles – disposable and reusable drones with payload-carrying mechanisms, developed exclusively with domestic knowledge and resources. As explained by BNT TMiH director Besim Belegic, after they surveyed the market and obtained the necessary permits, the company started the development and production of a prototype of the first Bosnian and Herzegovinian (BiH) drone of this type. “This will enable, among other things, the employment of at least 50 new workers as well as an increase in revenue in our company,” said Belegic.
This is a domestic product, developed with domestic know-how, and all components were produced in BiH.
Global market
The global market for unmanned systems today is estimated at around 28 billion dollars, with the potential to grow to about 76 billion by 2035 with a global compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 10.5%, data from Future Market Insights show.
Leading players such as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, and L3Harris Technologies dominate through large defense contracts, integrated capabilities, and extensive R&D. Emerging companies, including Teledyne Technologies, Textron Inc., Thales, and Israel Aerospace Industries, operate in specialized defense and commercial segments with mission-specific flexible platforms.
Key players like DJI and Elbit Systems focus on cost-effective, commercially scalable solutions. While industry fragmentation still exists, increasing mergers, partnerships, and cross-sector innovations continually drive consolidation among the sector’s leading participants.
According to announcements by the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH (FBiH), Nermin Niksic, after visiting Travnik’s BNT TMiH and the drone presentation, the product should be of interest to the global market.
Potential of the BiH defense industry
Official data show that in just the first six months of this year, the BiH defense industry exported military equipment worth over 311 million BAM, which is about 30 percent more than a year earlier.
To assess the potential of the BiH defense industry, the factories Igman Konjic, Binas Bugojno, Unis Ginex, BNT-TMiH Novi Travnik, and Pretis Vogosca should be viewed as an integrated system, military analyst Berko Zecevic explained.
“Pretis is a factory for the production of large-caliber ammunition, which is important everywhere. The Igman factory produces small-caliber ammunition in large quantities, sometimes around 260 to 300 million rounds a year. Ginex produces small, fine components without which ammunition from Pretis or Igman would not be functional. It has an enormously large capacity and can practically cover part of the world market. Binas produces primers, without which Pretis’s products could not function. So they are directly linked. Those factories, together with the BNT-TMiH factory from Novi Travnik, which produces mortars, artillery guns of 105 mm, 122 mm, 155 mm, intended to launch the ammunition manufactured by Pretis, form a single whole,” Zecevic says, Forbes writes.
