Kyiv is using Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 military drones to strike back at Moscow’s invasion
Kyiv is using Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 military drones to strike back at Moscow’s invasion, with some success. Ukraine’s military says the drones have successfully attacked Russian convoys and blown up tanks and surface-to-air missile systems.
For years, the targeting system inside Bayraktar TB2 drones has been supplied by a Canadian manufacturer, Ontario-based L3Harris Wescam.
Canadian-made air-strike targeting gear appears to be playing an important supporting role in the fight Ukraine is mounting against invading Russian forces.
Ukraine’s Bayraktars have destroyed at least 32 vehicles. The Bayraktar is much lighter than the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, more comparable to the MQ-1 Grey Eagle.
The Bayraktars payload is 121 pounds with a 105 horse-power engine, and it only flies around 80 miles per hour, and comes equipped with four Smart Micro Munition laser-guided missiles.
The TB2 drone is an “extraordinarily effective tool” for Ukraine and other countries that have relied on it. “You’ve got this cheap machine that is dropping very small bombs on very expensive tanks, armoured vehicles and surface-to-air missiles,” said Tony Osborne, the London bureau chief of Aviation Week, which covers aerospace.
The Canadian government refuses to comment on the presence of Wescam gear in Ukrainian-operated drones attacking Russian forces. Jim Burke, director of global public relations for L3Harris, the Florida-based parent company of Wescam, also declined all questions on the matter.
