How Turkey became 'drone superpower' in the Battle of Azerbaijan Armenia

Posted on 24th Oct 2020 by rohit kumar

The fierce war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh has also brought the combat drone aircraft made in Turkey to the world. It is being said that because of the drones bought from Turkey, Azerbaijan has gained an edge in the war.

 

Even before the Nagorno-Karabakh war began, Turkish military drone planes led many military analysts to place him among the top countries in the global defense industry.

 

Turkey, which is developing advanced combat drones, does not want to associate itself with Israel or America. He is making new aircraft of advanced technology himself.

 

US military expert of unmanned aircraft Daniel Gettinger told the BBC Turkish Service that Turkey is making many types of drone aircraft.

 

Hebertürk journalist and aviation expert Gunte Simsek believes that Turkey has been recovering its losses in the aviation sector for many years.

 

He says that the aircraft manufacturer Turkey became a member of the Civil Aviation Organization in the year 1940 itself. However, the situation in Turkey deteriorated over the next few years. But now he has strengthened his position by making unmanned aircraft.

 

Criticism of turkey

 

Turkey has also faced criticism for drone strikes within the country and the deaths of civilians in them.

 

Daniel Gettinger, associated with the Michel Aerospace Research Institute of the United States, says that Israel and the United States are at the forefront of the UAV in the world.

 

Israel and the United States began making drone aircraft for military use in the 1970s and 80s. Turkey is the new manufacturer in this field. Apart from this, China and France are also big drone manufacturers.

 

According to Gettinger, at present 95 countries are trying to make drone aircraft in the world and at least 60 countries use 267 types of military drones.

 

China is the largest drone country - China

 

According to Gunte Simsec, Turkey is among the top five countries in the world in terms of drone design, software, and usage.

 

According to the UK-based NGO Drone Wars, Turkey is a new generation country involved in the field of drone production. These countries also include China, Iran, and Pakistan.

 

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China's drone exports increased by 1430% last year and China has become the leader in this matter.

 

According to the research firm Teal Group, which works in the field of aerospace and defense, in 2019, the drone business increased to $ 7.3 billion.

 

This figure could reach $ 98.9 billion in the next 10 years.

 

Turkish military uses drone planes on a large scale against the separatist organization PKK and this is why their production has increased in Turkey.

 

Turkey considers PKK a terrorist organization. This is an organization of Kurds who are struggling to create a separate country for Kurds in Turkey.

 

Turkey had been buying drones from Israel since 2000 but was having problems flying a Heron type UAV. Sometimes they were crashing, sometimes they were not able to fly due to technical reasons.

 

For this reason, some heron drones were also sent back to Israel.

 

The US Congress also banned the sale of Predator and Reaper drones to Turkey.

 

After this, Turkey had to develop its drone program to meet its needs.

 

The Bayktar TB2 drone of the Baikar company is among the most popular drone aircraft in the world.

 

It is superior to its rivals because it is the smallest drone capable of carrying missiles.

 

It can also be used for airspace surveillance and espionage. It also shoots accurately.

 

Which countries have this drone?

 

In the media of Turkey and Azerbaijan this year, there were reports of buying this drone. Apart from this, Serbia, Qatar, Tunisia, and Libya have also bought unmanned aircraft made in Turkey.

 

The successful use of Bayerktar TB2 drone aircraft in the Battle of Nagorno Karabakh has also increased their demand.

 

Gunte Simsek says that now the market for this drone has grown.

 

In an interview with France 24, when asked the President of Azerbaijan how many drones he had taken from Turkey, he said in response that "we have enough drone aircraft to get our aim."

 

President Ilham Aliyev said, "This is information that I would not like to make public."

 

Answering a question related to the effect of drones on the war, the President of Azerbaijan said, "These are advanced weapons of the new era." I can say that we have wasted more than one billion dollars of military equipment in Armenia with the drone planes from Turkey.

 

Turkey also used its drone planes during Operation Spring Shield in Syria.

 

With the help of Turkish drone planes, the internationally recognized government of Libya was able to take effective action against the forces of rebel military leader Khalifa Haftar.

 

In the year 2019, Turkey sold weapons worth $ 2.74 billion. Turkey gained 34 percent over last year. According to experts, by 2023, Turkey's drone business will increase to 10 billion dollars.

 

According to the Stockholm Peace Institute, Turkey increased arms sales by 170% between 2014–18, while Turkish arms imports decreased by 48% between 2015–19.

 

The reasons for this include the development of Turkish local technology and the difficulties in purchasing weapons from abroad.

 

Daniel Gettinger says that Turkey is not only interested in selling weapons but also wants to build relationships with other countries.

 

They say that Turkey is also supporting other countries in the production of drones.

 

According to Gattinger, the Baerktar drone is somewhat cheaper than the TB2 version, and Turkey has also done a lot of publicity for its sale.

 

A special feature of Turkish drone planes is that they have been made entirely at the local level.

 

Drone manufacturer Baykar said in a statement that its entire system is based on local and domestic production.

 

However, experts differ from this. Daniel Gettinger says that Turkey acquires sensor devices and target devices from Germany and Canada.

 

According to defense analysts, a weak link in Turkey's drone program is that it is dependent on imports.

 

In 2019, the British newspaper The Guardian claimed in its report that Turkey's Bayraktar uses TB-2 drone hornet type missile launchers made by the British company EDO MBM Technology.

 

However, Baikal has denied these allegations.

 

According to reports, German companies sold 1.28 million euros of military equipment to Turkey, which can be used to make drones.

 

Gunte Simsek says that Turkey has made progress in making drone aircraft engines and this is a highly disputed issue.

 

According to Drum Wars, Samuel Brownsword, Turkey has an opportunity to develop and export its drone aircraft.

 

The biggest reason for Turkey's success in this area is that it is among the few countries in the world who are attacking their land with drone planes.

 

Samuel Brownsword has also said in an article that Turkey regularly uses these drone aircraft within its borders.

 

Human rights organizations and activists have been alleging that Turkey is targeting common citizens using drone planes in its own country.

 

Organizations allege that Turkey also used drone aircraft in northern Syria.

 

There is also a criticism of drone planes about the fact that the use of them has only one result - the death of people.

 

Samuel Brownsord says, "Nobody is arrested by a drone plane. When these are used, death is a definite result. This is a matter of serious concern.