Click to see full-size image. (screengrab\Baykar)
Turkey has tested a new capability for its Bayraktar TB2 combat drone, demonstrating its ability to carry and launch smaller first-person view (FPV) suicide quadcopters against ground targets.
The test, announced by Turkish defense manufacturer Baykar on November 4, involved a TB2 carrying 16 FPV drones developed by Turkish company Skydagger, with eight mounted under each wing.
The drone took off from the Keşan Flight Training and Test Center in Edirne province and flew to a designated test area, where it released two of the smaller systems. Both successfully struck their assigned targets, according to footage released by the company.
The FPV quadcopters were controlled by ground-based operators through a communication link established via the TB2, which served as both a carrier and an airborne signal relay.
Turkey is not the first country to explore the drone carrier concept. Both Russia and Ukraine have conducted tests with similar systems.
The concept is intended to extend the operational range of small FPV quadcopters by allowing larger platforms to transport them closer to their targets.
However, the effectiveness of the approach remains limited by the vulnerability of radio-guided FPV quadcopters to electronic warfare.
Despite being transported closer to their targets and benefiting from an airborne communications relay, the smaller quadcopters still rely on radio links for operator guidance. These links remain susceptible to jamming, which can disrupt communications and prevent the drones from reaching their targets.
The use of larger carriers therefore offers a way to extend FPV quadcopters’ operating range but does not resolve one of the main challenges facing their employment on modern battlefields.
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frequent testing of aids infected americunt anuz w hebrew jizz makes clyde incel derp
turkey needs to be destroyed once and for all, glory to russia…
who will actually control these ? israeli interests ?
attempt to make it useful when it’s completely useless for zones with strong aad. what range the drones have? 10-20 km i guess. but the carrier will be shot down much before. so what’s the reason to use it? to pay 5 mln for complex, which is able to launch 1000-dollar drone? i would prefer to pay 5 mln for loitering munitions with 50-100 km range like “lancet” or something more simple and cheaper, but win in quantity. kamikazes + multi-layer aad is the base of military now apart infantry.
tb-2 is good for places like sudan or sahel. but in such places tb-2 could use its common load — light guided bombs and missiles. in other places it’s very vulnerable. iran shot down >50 mq-9, same class with tb-2. turkey sold ~100 tb-2 to hohols, just ~30 survived and used for reconnaissance in the rear, i.e. useless. same class “orion” used to launch “banderole” jet uav-kamikaze. sometimes it flies behind front lines, but not often as i know.