Ukraine’s Bayraktar drones make battlefield comeback
Ukrainian forces have resumed using Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones on the battlefield, German broadcaster n-tv reported on June 26.
Bayraktar TB2 UAVs rose to prominence in the opening months of Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022, when they were exceptionally effective at striking tightly packed columns of enemy vehicles north of Kyiv.
Once Moscow retreated from northern Ukraine and redeployed to focus on Donbas, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya oblasts, Russian field air defenses there rendered TB2s largely ineffective.
As the report notes, Ukrainian Navy Commander Oleksiy Neizhpapa recently posted video footage showing a Bayraktar TB2 attacking and destroying a Russian boat in Kherson Oblast.
Euromaidan Press said the recent use of Bayraktar drones in Kherson Oblast suggests possible vulnerabilities in Russia’s air defense network in southern Ukraine.
On July 31, 2023, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry signed a contract with Baykar Makina (manufacturer of Bayraktar TB2s) to establish a service center for repairing and maintaining UAVs on Ukrainian soil.
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