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There is plenty of video evidence that Ukraine’s best war weapon is the drone. And the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 aerial drone has proven effective since the beginning of the Russian invasion. 

Ukraine’s not-so-secret weapon has been in the field. And destroying Russian artillery systems, armored vehicles, and Russian cruiser warships.

Ukraine already had more than 20 Bayraktar TB2 armed drones from Baykar in their arsenal. And it had some on-order when Russia invaded.

 The last batch of 16 was delivered in early March. And as the fighting intensifies more are on the way. The drones are being donated to Ukraine by their allies.

The drone has proven effective in recent years against Russian forces and their allies in conflicts in both Libya and Syria.  And its success in Ukraine is opening up a large global marketplace.

There is little doubt that Russia has overwhelming military advantages. But the TB2, has a 12-metre wingspan and can soar to 25,000 feet before swooping to destroy tanks. And it shoots artillery with laser-guided armor-piercing bombs. 

Ukraine is still winning the drone war.

War weapon UAV Bayraktar TB2 

Baykar is based in Istanbul, Turkey. It is currently co-owned by Selcuk and Haluk Bayraktar. Selcuk is the primary designer and credited with the development of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). He was educated in the US at MIT.

The company was founded in the 1980s by Bayraktar's father, Ozdemir Bayraktar. And it began to focus on unmanned aircraft in 2005.

There is no doubt that the Turkish company has helped to revolutionize modern warfare. And Selcuk claims that Ukraine’s successes with drones have made "the whole world" a customer.

Selchuk Bayraktar, is married to the daughter of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. President Erdogan says international demand is huge for TB2 drones. An updated TB3 version, as well as a new UAV called the “Akinci” is also being beta tested.

With current factory resources Baykar can only produce about 200 TB2 drones a year. 

Baykar wants drones used to pushback invaders

"It is an illegal invasion so TB2 is helping the honorable people of Ukraine defend their country," Selcuk says of Russia’s invasion.

Russia has made public announcements about the new generation of laser weapons they are deploying in Ukraine. Moscow claims its mobile system that can blind orbiting satellites and destroy any drone.

"Their ranges are limited so if your sensory and munition range is longer, they are not going to be effective," the brothers emphasize. They believe the new Russian systems will be ineffective against the drones they are putting in the air.

Baykar is also working on a TB3, which has foldable wings. And it can take off or land on short-runway aircraft carriers. 

"If you look at the longer time horizon, we are working on taxi drones – for that we need to develop more higher-level autonomy technology – which is AI basically – but it will revolutionize how people will be transported in cities."