Thread by @veggiediplomat

Long Thread on #Turkey|’s 🇹🇷 role in #NagornoKarabakh and what India 🇮🇳 has to learn from this new dimension of asymmetric warfare!

Turkey 🇹🇷 supported #Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 not just diplomatically (supported by diplomats) & logistically (sending mercenary forces as reported by Reuters) but also by selling #BayraktarTb2 drones tilting balance against #Armenia 🇦🇲

The drone in question is #BayraktarTB2, (Tactic Block) a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) manufactured by Turkish company called #BaykarMakina
PC: Dailysabah

The brain behind #BayraktarTb2 is Baykar’s Chief Technical Officer @Selcuk #SelcukBayraktar, who also happens to be the son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
PC: tele1.com.tr

#BayraktarTb2 has already clocked 100,000 hours of flight, a first in Turkish aviation history. It not only performs active reconnaissance but also conducts surveillance and intelligence flights and has the ability to transmit images with negligible delay. hurriyetdailynews.com/bayraktar-arme…

#BaykarMakina, the company manufacturing #BayraktarTb2 , has already exported 12 drones to #Ukraine 🇺🇦 and 6 more to #Qatar 🇶🇦. It can fly at altitudes of 27030 feet (service ceiling) & for 24 hours (flight endurance) both during day & night & carry a payload of 330 pounds

Prior to being used in #NagornoKarabakh, these drones were deployed by #Turkish forces in operations Hendek, #EuphratesShield, #OliveBranch against not only #ISIS but also #Kurdish groups which are considered as terrorist groups by #Ankara.

#BayraktarTb2 is a 93% indigenous system & capable of carrying 4 MAM-L & MAM-C missiles which are produced by ROKETSAN, another #Turkish firm. MAM is a laser-guided smart munition system with 2 variants (L = Thermobaric & C = High Explosive)
PC: Wikimedia

However, recently #BayraktarTb2 has started carrying UMTAS missiles too which are long range Air to Surface anti-tank missile, also developed by #ROKETSAN
PC: Wikimedia

Fears of #Turkey 🇹🇷 using unmanned aircraft against PKK groups, led #USA 🇺🇸 to ban export of such drones, which spurred the development of #BayraktarTb2

While there has been a long-standing argument by the #UnitedKingdom 🇬🇧 that #BayraktarTb2 uses Hornet micro-munitions bomb rack manufactured by a UK based company, as claimed by Guardian newspaper ..

.. Selcuk Bayraktar has always argued that the bomb rack used in the drone is indigenously developed and is better than Hornet bomb rack.

Well, Israel 🇮🇱 was the first country to build drones for military purposes. Their Heron drones are the most popular. Israel 🇮🇱 has been an exporter of drones and has exported its Aerostar drones to Azerbaijan 🇦🇿. India 🇮🇳 too has purchased Heron drones from Israel.

The US 🇺🇸 too has popular drones - Predator B (MQ-9 Reaper) and Predator C (Avenger). In a recent move, the US 🇺🇸 approved the sale of MQ-9 Reaper drones to Taiwan 🇹🇼 worth $600 mn

Anyway, back to Turkey 🇹🇷. So widespread is the evolution of drone tech in Turkey that it actually uses them for policing in civilian areas! Turkey is actually considered a drone super power by some analysts!

Azerbaijan 🇦🇿, who Turkey 🇹🇷 considers as their ethnic cousins, was always interested in the tech and has been actively increasing its budget spend on upgrading its defence.

Eventually, it purchased these drones in June 2020. OTOH, Armenia 🇦🇲, had S-300 battery but was fitted with outdated radars which were only optimised for fast flying jet and missile interceptions. This is where #bayraktartb2 missiles which fly slow and at lower altitudes score!

Sample this! SAM held by Armenia 🇦🇲 Osa-AKM has a limited range of 6.5km & cannot detect any object flying slower than 360 km/h. But the operational range of MAM-L missile is 8 kms.

Within a matter of weeks, as per a pro-Turkish report, these drones had destroyed over $1 bn worth of Armenian 🇦🇲military hardware.

Analyst Stijn Mitzer estimates that Armenia 🇦🇲 (Republic of Artsakh) lost 226 tanks, 10 anti-tank missile systems, 76 multiple rocket launchers, 1 Ballistic missile, 2 man-portable air Defense Systems, 28 SAM systems including the Russian 🇷🇺 made S-300! oryxspioenkop.com/2020/09/the-fi…

This implied that #bayraktartb2 had now scored over Russian 🇷🇺 made Pantsir-S1 in Syria and Libya and over S-300 (although poorly coupled with other sub-systems) in #NagornoKarabakh

#bayraktartb2 now had another feather in its fast-filling cap after its successes in Libya 🇱🇾 (in driving after Khalifa Haftar’s invading army), domestically in Turkey (destroying PKK’s capabilities) and in Syria 🇸🇾 (in capturing great amounts of territory from Assad’s forces).

Looking at the success of the drone in the #NagornoKarabakh war, there are now many potential buyers. #Ukraine 🇺🇦 wants to buy 5 more #BayraktarTb2 drones and this raises alarm in Moscow as Ukraine can even plan to use these in Crimea and Donbas regions! dailysabah.com/business/defen…

The success of #bayraktartb2 shows how the conventional weapons systems, tanks, surface-to-air missiles end up becoming sitting ducks in front of potent low-and-slow-flying armed drones!

UAVs have another advantage. Since their operational ranges are less, they are actually in the vicinity of the attack & can film the damage caused on the enemy and the footage can then be published on social media to drive their propaganda and discredit the adversary’s claims.

Knowing very well that Turkey 🇹🇷 and Pakistan 🇵🇰 share close ties, India 🇮🇳 is duly worried that Pak might be interested purchasing these drones. India, although had Heron and Searcher drones, was using them only for surveillance and reconnaissance and not for offence.

Only recently has India 🇮🇳 chosen to opt for MQ-9B Sky Guardian weaponised drones from the US, owing to the situation at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. India has also decided to arm its Heron missiles!

At a time when the China 🇨🇳 is deploying large quantity of unmanned aerial vehicles over the LAC in Ladakh to spy over Indian positions, India 🇮🇳 simply cannot be lagging behind in this domain of warfare. END 🙏🏻