Ukraine to purchase Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 armed UAVs.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak, First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleh Hladkovsky and Head of the Ukroboronprom State Concern Pavlo Bukin have signed an agreement with Turkey for the purchase of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles, according to the website ukrinform.net.

Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle at IDEF defense exhibition in Turkey, May 2017. (Picture source Army Recognition)

An agreement was signed during the visit of the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to Turkey at the beginning of November 2018.

The negotiations for the purchase of Tukish-made UAVs were started two years ago. During this period, representatives of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry were in Turkey to perform technical and trial tests of the Bayraktar TB2.

The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium altitude and long-range (MALE) tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system manufactured by the Turkish Company Baykar Makina. The first units of the Bayraktar TB2 will be purchased by Ukraine to Baykar Makina, but in the future, the UAV could be produced in Ukraine.

The first flight of the Bayraktar TB2 was performed in June 2009, and the production began in December 2011, after a first contract with the Turkish army. The first acceptance tests of the UAV were conducted in November 2014 and six UAVs were delivered to the Turkish Land Forces by 2014.

The Bayraktar TB2 has a monocoque design including an inverse v-tail structure and engine located at the rear of the fuselage. It has a range of more than 150km and can fly at a maximum altitude of 22,500ft. It has a maximum speed of 70kt and endurance of more than 20 hours.

The Bayraktar TB2 can be armed with long-range anti-tank missile under the wings. Bayraktar TB2 successfully demonstrated firing of ROKETSAN MAM-L Smart Micro Munition with 100% precision in December 2015.