Turkish Army Receives Bayraktar TB2 Drone With Domestically Made Electro-optical System

Drone Bayraktar TB2 Turki. (Wikimedia Commons/Bayhaluk)

JAKARTA - Turkey's defense industry has made a new delivery of the Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle (UCAV) to the Turkish Army Command, the head of the defense agency said on Saturday.

In a Twitter statement, the Chairman of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) Ismail Demir said the SSB had successfully delivered the Baykar-made combat drone.

He noted that the newly delivered drone was equipped with the Common Aperture Targeting System (CATS) developed by leading defense company Aselsan, citing Daily Sabah February 6.

CATS is a high-performance electro-optical reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting system designed for fixed-wing and rotary-wing aerial platforms, including unmanned aerial systems (UAS), helicopters and aircraft.

The country's drones previously used electro-optical systems purchased from abroad. However, the associated embargo on such exports led Turkish defense industry companies to develop equipment with local resources at home.

Last year, Canada canceled a permit to export drone technology to Turkey after concluding it was selling the equipment to Azerbaijani military forces while fighting in the internationally recognized Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone. (Wikimedia Commons/Bayhaluk)

Turkey, like Canada, is a member of NATO and a key ally of Azerbaijan, whose troops have regained territory after six weeks of fighting and after three decades of Armenia's illegal occupation.

However, Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said the use of the technology was "inconsistent with Canada's foreign policy, or the end-use guarantees provided by Turkey."

Turkey criticized the decision, saying it expected Turkey's NATO allies to refrain from taking steps that would negatively impact bilateral relations and jeopardize NATO solidarity.

As many military and defense experts have pointed out, combat drones give the Azerbaijani army an edge in detecting and destroying enemy troops and military equipment, including Russian-made armored vehicles, howitzers and air defense systems.

To note, among the defense industry products that Turkey imports from Canada is an electro-optical camera system obtained from the Wescam company.

Apart from using domestically developed combat drones, Turkey is also on its way to becoming one of the world's number one exporters in this field.

Export contracts have been signed with 16 countries for the UCAV Bayraktar TB2, which has completed 420,000 flight hours.