Global sales of UAVs in Türkiye soared

According to foreign media reports, Saudi Arabia has recently signed a TB2 UAV procurement agreement with Türkiye after Qatar and Kuwait. In recent years, the global sales of TB2 UAVs in Türkiye have soared due to outstanding combat performance and relatively high cost performance. It is reported that Türkiye has exported more than 500 TB2 UAVs to 32 countries. In the future, Türkiye may take the TB2 UAV export as an opportunity to accelerate the independent production and export of weapons and equipment.

TB2 UAV is a hollow long endurance UAV developed by Türkiye Baika Company for Türkiye's military. The UAV completed its first flight in August 2014, and then entered the Türkiye Army for service. At present, it is the surveillance and strike integrated UAV with the largest number of equipment and the widest range of applications in Türkiye's military.

From the perspective of combat performance, the TB2 drone has a combat altitude of 5500 meters, a maximum flight altitude of 8200 meters, a maximum speed of 220 kilometers per hour, a cruising speed of 130 kilometers per hour, and a range of 27 hours. It has advanced air ground data links and can perform remote control or autonomous flight.

From practical application, TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles have demonstrated good combat effectiveness in recent local conflicts. Taking the Nagorno Karabakh conflict as an example, the Turkish media reported that in this conflict, the Azerbaijani army used TB2 UAVs to destroy a large number of Armenian armored vehicles, artillery and air defense systems - giving Türkiye a huge advantage in the 44 day conflict.

From the perspective of export, the TB2 drone has a relatively low cost, with a selling price of about 5 million US dollars in the international market. In 2019, Baika Company only exported 6 TB2 drones, with Qatar being the only customer. Due to its outstanding performance in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the export order volume of TB2 drones surged at one point. By 2023, Türkiye has exported more than 500 TB2 UAVs to 32 countries. In September 2022, the United Arab Emirates purchased 120 TB2 drones at once. At present, the drone is widely used by the military forces of countries such as Poland, Iraq, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Azerbaijan.