In recent days, social networks are full of these videos in which Russian convoys are targeted by the Ukrainian army. Columns of tanks invading Ukraine are severely hit, sometimes stopped short, by these strikes from the sky. On paper, the Kiev army is no match for Russian planes. However, it has a boot – no longer so secret – which allows it to hinder the progress of the invader: the TB2 drones.
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Manufactured by the private Turkish company Baykar Makina, these inexpensive aircraft have been ordered by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense from Turkey since 2019. They thus have the advantage of causing major damage to the Russian military at very low risk. These 12-meter wingspan devices are very light and can carry four missiles, depending on the company that produces them.
Used in Donbass for two years
Ukraine has used these devices on the front line of the pro-Russian breakaway republics of Donbass since last October. Often successfully, as these drones are very difficult to shoot down, even with equipment supplied to the separatists by Russia.
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The latter, while minimizing the damage caused by these aircraft, sharply criticized Turkey for having signed contracts for the sale of around twenty TB2 drones. During a telephone exchange between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin in December 2021, the Russian president had accused his Turkish counterpart of engaging in an action “provocative” and “destructive”.
“Drones will not make a difference in Ukraine”
More than a weapon, the TB2 drone has become in recent days a real asset in terms of communication. Kiev’s armed forces thus regularly publish strikes targeting enemy armor, feeding a Ukrainian narrative of the war and maintaining the morale of the troops. The drones can remain for three hours in the same location and are more effective for reconnaissance missions than planes flying quickly over an area.
While Russia destroyed several of these devices on the first day of the invasion, the Ukrainian army still has enough drones to thwart Russian plans. Enough to hope to change the course of the conflict? No, say analysts.
“Drones may have made a difference in these conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, Syria or Libya, but it will not be the same in Ukraine”explains Sinon Ulgen, specialist author for the Turkish blog Oryx. “For these drones to be truly effective, they must operate in an environment devoid of aerial threats. This was the case in (other) theatres. Not in Ukraine »he warns, while the Russian air force has not yet been fully deployed.
The TB2 drones were indeed particularly decisive in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. By targeting Armenian military equipment, they paved the way for the advances of Azerbaijan’s troops. They were also widely used in Syria or Libya.
