Bayraktar TB2

Bayraktar TB2
Bayraktar TB2 of the Turkish Air Force
Role Unmanned combat aerial vehicle
National origin Turkey
Manufacturer Baykar
First flight August 2014; 10 years ago (2014-08)
Status In service
Primary users Turkey
Azerbaijan
Ukraine
See Operators
Number built >600[1]
Developed from Baykar Bayraktar TB1
Developed into Baykar Bayraktar TB3

The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations. It is manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., primarily for the Turkish Armed Forces.[2] The aircraft are monitored and controlled by an aircrew in a ground control station, including weapons employment. The development of the UAV has been largely credited to Selçuk Bayraktar, a former MIT graduate student.[3]

By November 2021, the TB2 drone had completed 400,000 flight hours globally.[4][5] The largest operator of TB2 drones is the Turkish military, but an export model has been sold to the militaries of a number of other countries.[6][7] Turkey has used the drone extensively in strikes on Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and People's Protection Units (YPG) targets in Iraq and Syria.[8][9][10][11] Bayraktar drones were later deployed by a number of other nations around the world in various wars, such as by Azerbaijan in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine,[12][13] as well as by the Ethiopian National Defense Force during the Tigray War.[14][15][16]

  1. ^ "Bayraktar TB2'deki SATCOM detayı dikkatinizi çekti mi?" (in Turkish). 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Bayraktar TB2". Military Factory. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Baykar İnsansız Hava Aracı Sistemleri | Selçuk Bayraktar". Baykarsavunma.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  4. ^ BAYKAR [@BaykarTech] (26 November 2021). "#BayraktarTB2 UAV has successfully completed 400,000 flight hours!" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 November 2021 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "Bayraktar TB2 SİHA'dan 400 bin uçuş saati". TRT Haber (in Turkish). 26 November 2021.
  6. ^ "How drones are changing the game". Israel National News. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Droning On in the Middle East". American Purpose. 5 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 drones enable swift, precise victory against YPG/PKK in Syria's Afrin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Battle for Idlib: Turkey's drones and a new way of war was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference TURKEY’S DRONE WAR IN SYRIA – A RED TEAM VIEW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference GuardianRevealed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "Ukraine credits Turkish drones with eviscerating Russian tanks and armor in their first use in a major conflict". Business Insider. 28 February 2022.
  13. ^ Gatopoulos, Alex. "The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is ushering in a new age of warfare". aljazeera.com. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Turkish Drones Join Ethiopia's war, Satellite Imagery Confirms – Peace Organization PAX". paxforpeace.nl. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  15. ^ Bearak, Max; Kelly, Meg; Lee, Joyce Sohyun. "How Ethiopia used a Turkish drone in a strike that killed nearly 60 civilians". Washington Post. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Ethiopia Shows Off Combat Drones at Military Ceremony". The Defense Post. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.