Illustrative image. Source: the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Russian air defenses have shot down about 90 Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 of Kiev forces since the beginning of the country’s special military operation in Ukraine, an informed Russian source told RIA Novosti on May 25.
“Starting from February 24, about 90 Turkish-made Bayraktar combat drones have been destroyed by air defense systems of the Russian Armed Forces. This is not counting those destroyed in hangars on the ground by high-precision cruise missiles,” the Russian news agency quoted the unnamed source as saying.
According to the source, the relatively large size, low speed and poor maneuverability of Bayraktar drones made them are easy targets easy targets for Russian short and medium-range air-defense systems like the Pantsir-S1, the Tor-M2 and the Buk-M3.
The Bayraktar, which was developed by Turkey’s Baykar, gained much fame between 2019 and 2020 after taking part in several Turkish-led operations in Syria and Libya as well as in the Azerbaijani attack on the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The combat drone has an endurance of up to 24 hours and an operational range of less than 300 kilometers. The drone’s main armament is the laser-guided MAM-C and MAM-L munitions made by Turkey’s Roketsan.
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Turkey exported dozens of Bayraktar drones to Ukraine before the beginning of the Russian special military operation. More drones were shipped to the country after the beginning of the operation, likely under a secret deal with Kiev.
Kiev forces used Bayraktar combat drones in the May 7 failed attack on Snake island. Russian air defenses shot down at least eight of the drones near the island in just two days.
While the Bayraktar succeeded to some extent in low-intensity wars where the threat of air defense fire is not prominent, it failed dramatically in Ukraine when it was confronted by the fire power of the Russian military. Kiev is now trying to use the drone in one-way, or suicide, missions with no real success.
