The official said Baykar was considering the Saudi request for a manufacturing plant but said that was a strategic decision for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and that other issues, such as Saudi investments in Türkiye, "are not moving as fast as possible".
Baykar, the UAE foreign ministry and Saudi Arabia's government communications office did not respond to a request for comment. Türkiye's Defence Ministry referred questions to the state's defence industries group, which declined to comment.
The company's only other production facilities outside Türkiye are being built in Ukraine, where Bayraktar TB2s helped undermine Russia's overwhelming military superiority in the weeks following Moscow's February invasion.
Baykar's battlefield successes have helped it spearhead Türkiye's lucrative military exports drive. CEO Haluk Bayraktar, who runs the company with his brother Selçuk - President Erdoğan's son-in-law - said last month Baykar had signed export contracts for the TB2 with 22 countries.
It currently produces 20 Bayraktar TB2 drones a month, he told a Ukrainian military services foundation in August, and its order book for those drones and other models was full for the next three years.
"There are requests for armed drones from many countries and regions," the senior Turkish official said.
"Some countries that have bought them are making additional demands. They are very satisfied with the results... but it is technically not possible to meet all demand." the official added.
