Turkey Seeks To Become Drone Super Power

Turkey Seeks To Become Drone Super Power

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On December 7th, Baykar Defense Technical Manager Selçuk Bayraktar introduced Bayraktar Mini UAV from his social media accounts.

Selcuk praised the success of the company.

The company itself, Baykar A.Ş also issued a statement on the occasion:

“We continue to develop and produce systems that can meet all needs from mini UAV to unmanned fighter aircraft. Bayraktar Mini UAV, the first step of our national UAV adventure, is ready to serve our security forces with its new features!”

Separately, on December 5th, Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI) General Manager Prof. Dr. Temel Kotil announced that serial production of the AKSUNGUR UAV had begun.

“We are also mass-producing our Anka-2, which can carry more loads and have longer endurance. Anka-2 recorded 48-hour endurance. Therefore, as it can be controlled from a remote location, the UAVs can fly in any direction and at any point in Turkey, from the control center. Today they do not take a world tour, but I hope we will have UAVs touring the world soon.“

The AKSUNGUR UAV is 12 m long and 3 m high when resting on its landing gear. The high-mounted wings have a slight dihedral angle and a wingspan of 24 m.

The wings end with small winglets. The centralized fuselage is under the wings and houses avionics, camera and sensors systems, with a chin-mounted camera blister.

TAI expects to integrate weapon systems typical of F-4 and F-16 fighter aircraft. Three hardpoints are situated under each wing for attaching external payloads, such as munitions or sonar buoys. These hardpoints are rated for loads of 150, 300 and 500 kg. Proposed armaments include TEBER-81 (laser-guided bomb Mk-81), TEBER-82 (laser-guided bomb Mk-82), LUMTAS, MAM-L, Roketsan Cirit, MAM-C, HGK-3 (precision-guided munition), KGK (82) (winged guided kit), and miniature bomb.

Turkey Seeks To Become Drone Super Power

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In addition to Turkey’s progress in UAV’s it is forming a joint venture with Ukraine.

Kiev is to produce up to 48 of the, now infamous, Bayraktar TB2 combat drones.

The news came from Vadym Ihorovych, General Director of Ukrspetsexport, a state-owned Ukrainian defense manufacturer, in an interview with online publication Left Bank.

In 2019, Ukrspetsexport and Baykar Makina established Black Sea Shield to develop UAS, engine technologies, and guided munitions.

Ihorovych said a company similar to Black Sea Shield is now being formed to undertake the production of the drones in Ukraine.

“We are interested in the development of production of Bayraktar TB2 strike drones, as the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine … plans to purchase 6 to 12 such strike complexes in the near future,” Ihorovych said.

Ihorovych further explained the joint venture’s current focus is to manufacture the Scythian anti-tank guided missile. He added that Turkey has already placed an order for the missiles.

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Sauron

Actually very smart of the researchers to make the mini UAV launchable by hand and have no wheels. This way it can be deployed on a squad level deep inside enemy lines.

Random Dude

well it is the warfare of future, small mobile independent groups that can operate without support. read somewhere that UN NAVY requested pentagon to acquire such systems for marines, but as a suicide drone.

Jesus

So a suicide drone would replace a heavier weapon at that level that can fire multiple times.

Random Dude

replace? who said replace? are you inventing things dude?

Jesus

The MC has plans to discard their tank fleet for a more modern approach involving drones.

Random Dude

We were talking about squads. You are thinking of Platoons. Better read the comment section you intend to join in.

Jesus

Not really, it does not matter the unit, it is the fascination with new toys, while forgetting what works.

Random Dude

so you are saying the existence/number of tanks in the unit does not matter the size of the unit?:)))

Jesus

No, I am saying that reliable weapon systems are being discarded for unproven,” fancy” and limited weapons.

Random Dude
Jesus

Flashpoints

The Marines want to get rid of their tanks. Here’s why.

Shawn Snow

March 26

142

Marine Corps M1A1 Abrams tank gunners will be able to program when main gun rounds explode. ( Lance Cpl. Holly Pernell)

A series of wargames conducted between 2018 and 2019 helped inform the Corps’ decision to divest of tanks and outmoded units and equipment that will have trouble surviving in fight with peer adversaries like China, according to a Marine Corps force redesign report.

From those wargames the Corps learned that the unit that shoots first has a “decisive advantage” on the battlefield and forces that can operate inside the range of enemy long-range precision fires “are more operationally relevant than forces which must rapidly maneuver to positions outside the ”weapons engagement zone, the report reads.

The Corps’ decision to divest of tanks, cut ground cannon artillery and light attack air platforms has stoked some criticism. Tanks historically have had success in high-end and urban warfare for decades boasting devastating firepower highly lethal to ground forces.

U.S. Marines with the Combined Arms Company in Bulgaria and members of the Norwegian Army drifted their 126,000 pound M1A1 Abrams tanks around an ice track as part of their pre-exercise training in Rena, Norway, Feb. 18, 2016. (Marine Corps)

The Corps is axing all of its tank battalions and cutting grunt units

As part of Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger’s plan to redesign the force to confront China and other peer adversaries by 2030, the Marines are axing all three of its tank battalions, and chucking out all law enforcement battalions and bridging companies, according to a news release from Marine Corps Combat Development Command.

Shawn Snow

But tanks and armored vehicles have had trouble surviving against the threat of precision strike and the plethora of drone and reconnaissance systems flooding conflict zones across the Middle East.

For recent evidence, a Turkish launched operation targeting Syrian regime army troops in late February decimated more than a hundred tanks and armored vehicles, dozens of artillery pieces and hundreds of Syrian forces, according to the Turkish National Ministry of Defense.

Turkey posted videos highlighting a mixed role of drones, Paladin artillery systems and aircraft pounding Syrian armor from the skies over the course of several days. The Syrian army appeared helpless to defend from the onslaught of long range systems. Even tanks camouflaged by buildings and bushes were no match for sensors and thermal imaging watching from the skies.

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The problem is exacerbated by the number of sophisticated anti-tank systems flooding counterinsurgency conflicts across the globe and access to long range drones once only in control by state actors are now being operated by militia groups.

In Libya, the Libyan National Army has the upper hand in its drone war with the UN-backed Tripoli government. It’s equipped with an alleged UAE-supplied Chinese drone known as the Wing Long II that boasts a 2,000 km range through a satellite link and is reportedly armed with Chinese manufactured Blue Arrow 7 precision strike air-to-surface missiles.

“Mobility inside the WEZ [ weapons engagement zone] is a competitive advantage and an operational imperative,” the Marine Corps report reads.

The Corps instead is looking for mobile systems and units that can survive within the reach of precision fires to “attrit adversary forces,” create dilemmas for the enemy and “consume adversary ISR resources,” according to the report.

“The hider-versus finder competition is real. Losing this competition has enormous and potentially catastrophic consequences,” the report reads.

Reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance capabilities will be key on the modern battlefield.

“We have sufficient evidence to conclude that this capability [tanks], despite its long and honorable history in the wars of the past, is operationally unsuitable for our highest-priority challenges in the future,” the report said about the divestment of Marine tanks.

But tanks aren’t disappearing from the fight. The Corps says heavy ground armor will still be provided by the Army.

The Corps says it plans to develop heavily into unmanned ground and air systems and rocket artillery and long range fires. According to the report, the Corps is increasing its rocket artillery batteries by 14 to 21 over a 10-year period.

Wargaming that inferred the Corps’ force redesign efforts were carried out by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, among others.

About Shawn Snow

Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.

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Random Dude

aint nobody have time to read that. highlight the important point and leave a link

Jesus

You are pathetic, is your attention span so limited?
There is plenty of material out there, if you are really interested you can find it.

Random Dude

you think im just sitting with nothing better to do other than read whatever you copy paste?

Lone Ranger

Cute, but it only takes a couple of cruise missiles to take out the drone factory…

Alekai Mordechai

It also takes a couple of kamikaze drones to take out missiles launchers.

Lone Ranger

You wouldnt even know from where it was fired.
Kalibr cruise missiles can have a range of 4000km, mostly fired from ships or subs.

Alekai Mordechai

Same goes for the drones.

But the funny part is, they’re launched from closer range and yet its hard to detect them.

Lone Ranger

For third world countries lead by cia traitors maybe it is.
Not for major and superpowers.
Same tactics failed in Syria.
In fact out of 27 drone attack against the Russian airbase zero were successful.

occupybacon

At some point, the little green must live the multilayered defended airbase and do a small reconaisance patrolling, that’s where the drone finds him, first.

Lone Ranger

It did work really well against Russian bases in the past…
Oh wait…it didn’t…

occupybacon

The little green can’t spend all his military stage in a base or a bunker, he needs to get his green ass out from time to time.

Lone Ranger

Like it did in Syria.
Agreed.
Now if Americants could do the same in Iraq in Afghanistan…

farbat

its not hard to detect drones it needs 3d radars and other sensors but its basically easily done which is why harop drones crashed right on irans border all the time and couldnt penetrate into iran because drones on their own are useless almost and only a swarm algorithm helps which you still dont use but iran already used in real conflict and such a tactic will penetrate deeper but it depends really on the defenses and the detection maybe an electromagnetic pulse emitter weapon gets used and all drones will crash at once so there is no absolution to these issues and you certainly dont have any answers you clowns

Jesus

They are detectable with the right radar combination.

Jesus

Missiles launchers of an adept military are part of a integrated defense system, a couple of Harops would amount to nothing, kind of a useless and expensive weapon.

farbat

try to find the location of subterrain launcher pods or try to hit automated subterrain silos because you cant which is pretty much obvious to see in syria that you really just hit targets without much of a value

farbat

you got american bunker busters so you need to figure out a way to launch those and on top you need to figure out a way to locate subterrain facilities around you and after it we can see if you can do damage or not to missile launchers but the pods you will probably not find that easily so forget taking them out

farbat

harop drone is trash it didnt even penetrate into irans a2ad without being immediatly downed so how much worth does it have anyway when you compare it to even those drones yemen uses its obvious who has the better equipment and its not you zionists while the equipment which cant be detected like iranian missiles and drones are way beyond your reach you just saw what hezbollah did infront of your eyes

farbat

one swarm attack against the zionist usurper entity like the one against aramco will show you how much all of your tech is worth

farbat

you cant stop iranian missiles but i would prefer iran to do the retaliation with drones so that you understand that iranian drones are also not going to be stopped that easily

farbat

one swarming attack is enough to take out all your weapons research weapons production and large amount of your depots if its done right and on top of it your 10 or so iron dome systems are also a target one could hit considering that they cost you 100 million each and that you absurdly claim that they are undefeatable

farbat

there are different ways to break you but i personally think that leaving you utterly unarmed will be the end of you already

Sauron

in an event of war they are kept in the factory?

Lone Ranger

New ones rolling out are.
No reinforcements…

Jesus

In the event of war their staging areas will be attacked.

farbat

ansarullah of yemen can create piston engines turkey cant so i wonder who has more chance to become a drone power because to me it looks as if turkey is behind yemen

Furkan Sahin

I honestly think the Houthis can win against Turkey if they have their own country

farbat

yemenis have more chance than turkey to become a drone power and that just shows turkeys place when it comes to this issue so either turkey gets heavy help from outside to become basically somewhat of a drone power or they are simply wishdreaming and again turkey cant even produce a piston engine turkey cant produce even something simple like a car engine how does turkey plan to produce any of it considering that its economy is moving towards collapse

HB_Norica

It makes sense to find a niche you’re good at and specialize. Competing toe to toe with The USA / Russia / EU and China on fighter aircraft or AFV’s or other heavy weapons systems is going to very expensive, tough nut to crack. A lot of the sales today are used as diplomatic leverage. Military drones are a growth industry …. a lot of small and medium size countries are looking at them as the great equalizer against better armed adversaries.

Drones are definitely a force multiplier but the affordable ones don’t fly at high altitudes or fly very fast. They aren’t a particularly robust weapon …. when they are seen they are easy to shoot down. Right now they are new and effective weapons but they are on the radar as threats to the big guys like China, Russia and the USA so expect to see a proliferation of new weapons to defend against drones. Once that happens they aren’t going to be nearly as effective as they are today.

SnowCatzor

Not surprising they’ve invested so much drones, because they can’t build fighter jets, it’s a decent alternative against low threat opponents.

Jihadi Colin

This will have an effect on, perhaps surprisingly to most people, India. The Indian army has developed a doctrine called “cold start” which envisages blitzkrieg armoured thrusts through the Thar desert into Pakistan, under heavy air cover. Pakistan so far had few options except short range tactical nuclear missiles like the Hatf series to counter Indian attacks, and that in turn meant that the possibility of Indian nuclear retaliation and all put nuclear war were very high. But Pakistan with its excellent relations with the Ottomans will already be looking to acquire a drone fleet, one that can wreck Indian offensives with little risk of nuclear armageddon. The chances of all out war in South Asia have suddenly dropped dramatically as a result, while those of low scale proxy war through Pakistani-trained terrorists have increased dramatically.