More Bayraktar TB2 UCAS for Ukraine
On 13 January 2022, a photo report of the visit of the Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Ukraine-Turkey was published on the Facebook page of the Turkish manufacturer Baykar Savunma (Baykar Defence).
Judging from a picture of a Bayraktar TB2 medium altitude long endurance (MALE) Unmanned Combat Aerial Systems (UCAS) sporting Ukrainian Air Force insignia and serial T261 we can safely say that the next batch of Bayraktars destined for the Ukrainian Armed Forces is nearing its completion.
Ukrainian Armed Forces already operate the Bayraktar TB2, having ordered five systems back in November 2018. A system consists of several UCASs, Ground Control Station, Ground Data Terminal, Remote Display Terminal and Advanced Base with Generator and Trailer modules.
In March 2019, a complete system was delivered to the Ukrainian Air Force. The tactical codes of these TB2s are 401 Red to 407 Red. Last year, an additional system entered service with the Ukrainian Navy. The tactical codes of these TB2s are 71 Blue to 76 Blue. Scramble Magazine reported in May 2021 on this acquisition.
In September 2021, Lieutenant-General Valery Zaluzhny, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the intended purchase of additional Bayraktar TB2s. This intent has been confirmed by the Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksiy Reznikov a month later. Ukrainian Bayraktars were already used on 26 October 2021 during an attack on the rebel artillery position near the village of Granitne in the Donbas region.
Photo via Baykar Savunma