Turkish TB2 S5 Bayraktar Drone Retired After Reaching 10 Thousand Flying Hours

Retired duty for the Bayraktar TB2 S5 drone. (Source: Baykar)

JAKARTA - Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 drone, with the S5 tail number, made history as the country's first unmanned aerial vehicle to complete its operational period and retire, after reaching 10,000 flight hours, Baykar producers said on Wednesday.

First used in 2014, Bayraktar TB2 S5 played an important role in various Turkish military operations. Now, the drone will play a role to support training and research.

"Our UAV with the number S5 Bayraktar TB2, which has served with Turkish soldiers in all major operations since the day he entered our army inventory, has managed to complete 10,000 flight hours. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed," said the Board Chairman of Baykar Selecuk Bayraktar quoted from Turkey Today.

The TB2 S5 has become a major asset in operations at home and abroad, completing more than 750 sudden attacks.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Army received the new UAV Bayraktar TB2, with the tail number T510, at a ceremony held at the Bayraktar National Technology Center in Istanbul, reported by the Daily Sabah.

Şanlı ordumuzun envanterine girdiği günden bu yana, tüm büyük operasyonlarda Mehmetçik ile birlikte görev yapan, S5 kuyruk numaralı #BayraktarTB2 İHA'mız, 10.000 saatlik uçuş görevini başarıyla tamamladı. 🇹🇷✈️

Emeği geçen herkese şükranlarımı iletiyorum...

Since joining the… pic.twitter.com/R7CKa06FCK

— Selçuk Bayraktar (@Selcuk) September 11, 2024

"Obviously the ordumuzun envanterine girdimen glui g\unden bu yana, t\" t\" y\'y\'en\'yonlarda Mehmet{0}ik ile birlicte gev yapan, S5 numaral #BayraktarTB2 mz, 10,000 saatlik uu evini baar\'yla talammla.

Eme kasih ige enggeen herkese teria kranlarmen iletiyorum...

Since joining the... pic.twitter.com/R7CKa06FCK

Baykar's TB2 fleet has almost reached an important milestone with nearly 900,000 flight hours recorded in all units as of September 2024.

With a domestic production rate of 93 percent, Bayraktar TB2 is Turkey's longest-serving national aircraft. The aircraft set a record in the history of Turkish flights by flying at an altitude of 27,030 feet and completing a 27-hour non-stop flight during the 2019 demonstration in Kuwait in extreme conditions.

In May 2024, Bayraktar TB2 set another record by making auto-rotation movements, a maneuver normally for fighter jets, making it the world's first UAV to carry out this evadement.

In addition to the military role, UAV Bayraktar TB2 has participated in international operations, including in Libya, Ukraine, and Karabakh and is currently being used by several NATO countries and the European Union.

The UAV Bayraktar TB2 also played an important role in civilian operations, including search and rescue missions during the earthquakes in Turkey in 2020 and 2023, as well as efforts to detect and prevent forest fires.

Between 2020 and 2023, the UAV identified 3,166 fires in the early stages, which helped in disaster management.

It is known that the Bayraktar UAV is now operating in 33 countries, which shows its increasing international demand.