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The Bayraktars took on a vital role in the early days of the conflict with Russia, helping to keep Kyiv out of Putin’s reach. They were in play just days after the war began. Most famously, they were sent to destroy Russian fuel trucks, rendering inoperable the tanks that had formed a miles-long military convoy heading towards the Ukrainian capital. The images of beleaguered Russian armoured vehicles abandoned at the side of the road was an early win for Ukraine in the all-important propaganda war.
A crucial characteristic of Turkish drones is that they are nearly invisible to conventional air defence systems. TB-2s drones are able to evade S-300s, the next generation of Russian-developed defensive missile batteries. In Azerbaijan in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Turkish drones were reported to have not only avoided the S-300s, but then also taken them out.
TB-2s were also used to destroy numerous Pantsirs - the Russian-designed anti-missile system that have been the mainstay of defence against Western offensives - in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh.
In fact, the Bayraktar is proving so troublesome to Putin’s ambitions, that it has been reported that Moscow is now offering a 50,000-rouble (£800) reward for each destroyed drone. In addition, it has also been rumoured that Russia, with a somewhat unsophisticated drone programme of its own, is eyeing up Iranian drones in order to try to restore the balance in the ‘drone wars’. Whether any deal has taken place is yet to be confirmed.
Of course, Putin would love to get his hands on the Bayraktar, but Turkey will not sell them to Russia. In turn, Moscow has complained to Ankara that it should stop supplying the Bayraktars to Ukraine, but the Turks have insisted that the sales – and in some cases donations – from the manufacturer, Baykar, are private matters between the firm and the Ukrainians, and are nothing to do with the state.
Ankara is of course very happy that a Turkish aerospace firm is proving its worth. Last year, Turkish arms and aerospace exports reached $3.2 billion – £2.7 billion – a new record, with drones a fast-growing part of that success story. In the past two years, Since the TB-2 made its first confirmed kill in April 2016, Baykar’s UAVs have been sold to more than a dozen countries. Turkish-made drones have made such an impact in other active war scenarios, from North Africa to the Caucasus, that they are now considered the major challenger to the United States, the industry leader.
Another benefit of the Turkish kit is that they are cheaper than US or Israeli-made drones. At a meeting of US military personnel, a high-ranking Danish official in attendance made himself a few enemies when he wondered aloud how many TB-2s could be bought instead of one American-built F-35 fighter jet.
Even the most cursory cost-benefit analysis shows that is a no-brainer: With an F-35 costing around $80 million and a Bayraktar costing no more than $2 million, you get forty times more aircraft for your money, and they are far easier to replace and maintain than a fighter jet and its pilot.
Despite their cheapness and effectiveness, the Russians are getting their own back at the Bayraktar. The Russians shot down their first drone in March, and of course they would have scrutinised the wreckage and identified the frequency it uses and its telltale electromagnetic signatures, meaning that the Russians would be better able to target the drones, as well as being able to jam signals to them.
Gotta get me one as a Chanukah gift.
I have one of them from twatter that I downloaded.
Quite funny, actually.
UK Daily Propaganda
The National Enquirer puts out more actual news than the Daily Mail, bet.
The little
Drone that Could!
.
Suck One
General Atomics!
If the Ukies on the military side had any common sense they’d program one of those things to take out their own civilian leaders and end this senseless slaughter.