Land operations
Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 drone has been used to great effect in Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh and now also Ukraine.
survivability, particularly ones that now dominate the skies as much as they dominate the headlines. Of course, we are talking about drones.
A recent history of violence Military drones as a concept are nothing new and have existed in the imaginations of military theorists and science fiction writers for many decades. However, the advent of high-tech innovations just before the new millennium – such as satellite communications, advanced microprocessors providing powerful onboard computing, materials sciences to make lighter and stronger aircraft, and also sophisticated imaging technologies – have allowed for the creation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are capable of unleashing large amounts of lethal firepower while simultaneously providing reconnaissance and intelligence capabilities. Take, for example, the US-made MQ-1 Predator drone and its successor, the MQ-9 Reaper. These drones are capable of both autonomous flight operations as well as being remotely controlled, with operators often described as sitting comfortably in US Air Force (USAF) bases in Nevada and Hawaii as their weapons prowled the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan, raining death down on their targets. Not only are these UAVs capable of targeting enemy armour – more on that later – but they were also used extensively in assassination missions against high-value targets. As a recent high-profile example, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in July 2022 by a Reaper likely armed with an R9X Hellfire missile – a kinetic force armament that killed the militant with blades and physical impact as he took what was his last breath of fresh air on his Kabul hideout’s balcony. Such was the wild success of the US’s drone programme that former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told academy cadets in March 2011 that the USAF was now training more pilots for advanced drone UAVs than for any other weapons platform. For the
country that made its human pilots famous through decades of overwhelming air superiority as well as by pushing that image via cultural icons like the Top Gun movie franchise, this was a remarkable statement indeed. The US’s UAV fleet was expanding even as its emphasis on the manned aircraft that had propped up the nation’s power since the Second World War was gradually waning. However, one could argue that US UAVs have not yet realised their full potential, even after being three decades in service. This is because, while Reapers can be outfitted with Hellfire variants such as the AGM- 114K High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) missile that can knock out even a modern main battle tank, they have not been put to extensive use against a conventional foe fielding modern armoured vehicles supported by anti-aircraft weapon systems. Rather, their use has been shaped by the adversaries the US has faced primarily in Afghanistan and Iraq, but also low-intensity conflicts elsewhere.
Turkish delight
If the Reaper represents the Rolls-Royce of combat UAVs, then Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 is its Volkswagen – inexpensive, reliable and, most importantly, effective. Such is its popularity that its Turkish manufacturer, Baykar, has received attention and orders from Kuwait to Poland and several countries in between. Most notably, it has been used extensively in Ukraine’s war to defend itself from Russian invasion, and the Turkish weapons platform was so effective and revered by the Ukrainians that its Lithuanian allies began to crowdfund to raise money to buy more, with each unit estimated to cost around $5m. The Ukrainian military also produced a patriotic song called ‘Bayraktar’ in honour of both the drone and its inventor, Baykar’s CTO Selcuk Bayraktar. The TB2’s impact has been significant, as it is one of the few examples in recent years where we have seen how drones can be used against a conventionally
Defence & Security Systems International /
www.defence-and-security.com
$5m Atlantic Council 21
The estimated cost of a Bayraktar TB2 drone.
Mike Mareen/
Shutterstock.com
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