Military Watch Magazine reveals Bayraktar drones losses in Ukraine
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Ukraine has been relying on homemade Turkish drones for their offensives, but they are distinguished by their low survivability as proven in Syria and against Russia.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the homemade Bayraktar drone
Turkey airlifted Wednesday an unknown amount of Bayraktar TB2 UAVs to Ukraine in an effort to bolster Kiev after it suffered heavy losses in the first days of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.
The drones have reportedly made it into Ukraine through Poland onboard a Turkish Air Force Airbus A400M.
Kiev had reportedly already fielded six Turkish drones, at least three of which had been lost in combat with much of the country's fleet of manned combat aircraft, Military Watch Magazine revealed.
Ukraine has served as the biggest market for the Turkish UAVs, having ordered a whopping 50 of them in a bid to compensate for its lack of manned precision strike aircraft to be used in short or medium-range operations.
The Bayraktar comes at a pretty cheap price when compared to most counterparts on the market, with an estimated cost of $1-2 million per. It was previously used by the Turkish occupation forces in Syria in Idlib against the Syrian Arab Army forces who were working on reclaiming their territories in early 2020.
The Bayraktar UAV lacks in terms of survivability, as it suffered heavy losses against the Syrian Arab Army and Ukraine.
With damage to airbases in Ukraine and Kiev being unable to afford more capable drones, the Ukrainian forces are only left with a few options for offensives, and the TB2 is one of the few that has the ability to perform remotely well in terms of offense.
Russia had for months been warning of the threat posed against it by NATO's attempts to expand eastward, which happened simultaneously with an increase in NATO military activity along Russia's borders, and batches of lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, prompting Russia to request security guarantees from the West. Washington failed to provide the guarantees.
After the West did not respond to Russia's demands, and amid Ukrainian shelling on the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, President Vladimir Putin initiated a special military operation in Donbass.
