Bayraktar TB2
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. 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.
| Bayraktar TB2 | |
|---|---|
| Bayraktar TB2 of the Turkish Air Force | |
| Role | Unmanned combat aerial vehicle |
| National origin | Turkey |
| Manufacturer | Baykar |
| First flight | August 2014 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users | Turkey Ukraine See Operators |
| Number built | >600 |
| Developed from | Baykar Bayraktar TB1 |
| Developed into | Baykar Bayraktar TB3 |
By November 2021, the TB2 drone had completed 400,000 flight hours globally. 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. Turkey has used the drone extensively in strikes on Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and People's Protection Units (YPG) targets in Iraq and Syria. 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, as well as by the Ethiopian National Defense Force during the Tigray War.