Maya Carlin
The popularizing presence of drones in modern warfare indicates how lethal unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will shape conflicts in the future. Beginning with the 2021 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the use of lethal drones by state and non-state actors alike has become vastly more prevalent. Today, Iran and its terror affiliates in the Middle East ranging from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen frequently deploy armed drones to further the regime’s regional aims. The ongoing Russian-Ukraine war has similarly highlighted the prominent use of UAVs in modern conflict, as each side has deployed frequent barrages to the front lines of the conflict. Ukraine fields a versatile UAV arsenal of mostly domestic and Western-delivered aerial weapons. However, one notable drone series often used by Ukrainian forces and not in these categories is the Turkish-designed Bayraktar TB2 series.
Initially acquired by Kyiv in 2019 as part of its military modernization program, these lethal UAVs were especially instrumental in Ukraine’s defensive efforts to thwart Russian advances at the beginning of the war. The privately owned Turkish manufacturer Baykar Marina sold six TB2 drones to Kyiv in its first export. This nearly $70 million contract also involved the purchase of ammunition for the armed variant of the UAV. When the Russian invasion commenced in February 2022, the Kremlin expressed discontent toward its Turkish ally for supplying Kyiv with such a valuable UAV. In response, Ankara emphasized that any prewar exports were carried out in the private sector.
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