Turkey delivered Bayraktar TB2 drones to Qatari Emirati Armed Forces

Turkey handed over six “Bayraktar TB2” military drones this year, the deal was signed by the two sides in 2018.

According to Anadolu Agency, the deal signed between Qatar Armed Forces and the Turkish aircraft manufacturer ‘Baykar Machinery’ on the sidelines of the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (Dimdex 2018) included six unmanned aircraft and control stations as well as technical and logistical equipment for these aircraft.

A Bayraktar TB2 taxis to a newly paved runway during Exercise ‘Al-Adheed 2020’. (Qatar Ministry of Defense)

The six aircraft and control stations have passed the factory quality tests and are ready to be handed over to the Qatari Armed Forces, Anadolu said.

As part of the same deal, a 55-person Qatari team has completed its training courses on the use of the TB2 drones in Turkey by a team of Baykar engineers and experts.

Selcuk Bayraktar said in his speech during the ceremony that Turkey currently ranks sixth in the world among countries capable of producing unmanned aerial vehicles and their smart weapons, depending on local capacities.

He added that the Turkish drones are played an important role during the operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch, which were carried out by the Turkish military in northern Syria.

Bayraktar stressed that the drones deal would contribute to cementing the Qatari-Turkish relations.

With the completion of the contract, many different products and software developed by the Turkish Defense Industry in recent years will be used by the Qatar Armed Forces. These include smart micro munitions, MAM-L and MAM-C products developed by Roketsan nationally, and Geographic Analysis System software developed by PiriReis Information Technologies and used by the Turkish Armed Forces.

It is considered that the cooperation between Qatar and Turkey in the military field will move forward with this development.

Turkey’s Deputy Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir said that Turkey’s defence production has increased by 65% during the past 15 years.

Under the deal, Baykar Machinery will provide technical and logistical support to the Qatari side for the aircraft operating system for two years.

Aprtment from Ukraine, the deal was the first sale of the ‘Bayraktar TB2’ aircraft to the Turkish system.

‘Bayraktar TB2’ is a medium altitude and long-range (MALE) tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system.

The aircraft provides operational information to the operations centres of the Turkish armed forces during its mission in the air, as well as being able to target the identified threats with on-board munitions. The Bayraktar TB2 drone was responsible for destruction of Russian-made air defense system and armored vehicle operated by Syrian forces.

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