Turkish aviation firm Baykar delivered 24 Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) to Poland this month, the Secretariat of Defense Industries (SSB) said Friday.
The first batch deliveries were made in October 2022, followed by supplies in April and October 2023, and lastly in May this year.
A handover ceremony was held at the 12th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Base in Poland with the participation of Haluk Görgün, president of the SSB, Pawel Bejda, Poland’s deputy national defense minister and Baykar‘s General Manager Haluk Bayraktar.
🇹🇷🤝🇵🇱| Savunma Sanayii Başkanı Prof. Dr. @halukgorgun ve BAYKAR Genel Müdürü @haluk Bayraktar’ın, Polonya’ya son parti Bayraktar TB2 SİHA’ların teslimi dolayısıyla düzenlenen törende yaptığı açıklamalar: pic.twitter.com/YRAaZmmLu1
— SavunmaSanayiST.com (@SavunmaSanayiST) May 17, 2024
Görgün said Turkey is now a global player in the field of drones, ship projects, electronic systems, land vehicles, weapons and ammunition systems thanks to its homegrown design and advanced technology capabilities.
“Baykar is a company closely followed by the entire world with its young talent, game-changing power, groundbreaking superior technologies and export successes and is the national pride of our country,” he said. “This success achieved by our company positively increases the image of our country in the world.”
With this project, Turkey has exported a high-tech UCAV to a NATO and EU member country for the first time in its history, he added.
The ceremony, which celebrated the delivery of the final, fourth set of the system, was attended by the State Secretary in the Ministry of National Defense, Paweł Bejda.
Bejda said:
“The Bayraktars will be operated in the skies above the whole territory of Poland. They are fitted with antennas and radars that make these UAVs capable of operating, out of Mirosławiec, and flying in Polish airspace.”
He also emphasized the fact that the TB2 offers a flight endurance of 22 hours.
A single set of Bayraktar TB2 UAVs, in its Polish configuration, is made out of 6 TB2 UAVs, three ground control stations EO/IR sensors, weapons, and spares.Additionally, Turkey is set to transfer technology necessary to establish depot-level maintenance capabilities within the structures of the Polish Armed Forces. This includes maintenance and repair capabilities for engines, ground control stations, and EO/IR sensors.
Deputy Minister of Defense Paweł Bejda, during the ceremony in Mirosławiec, noted that the Ministry is studying the possibility of establishing a new branch of the Polish Armed Forces, focused on operating solely the unmanned systems, named “Unmanned Forces” – which may be becoming a new development trend in the Armed Forces around the world.
Sources: Daily Sabah; The Aviationist