Turkish Bayraktar TB-2 drones played an important role in repelling Russian aggression at the beginning of the war, allowing Ukrainian units to stop enemy armored columns. However, Bayraktars practically disappeared from view afterwards, as the conditions for their use after Russian troops had consolidated their positions on the defensive lines were unfavorable. After a long break, Bayraktars reappeared on the battlefield.
Source. This was reported by Forbes.
This may mean that the efforts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to systematically destroy Russian air defense systems, supply and logistics routes, and ammunition depots during the counteroffensive, which has been going on for three months, have yielded results.
On Sunday, video footage emerged of TB-2s observing a patrol boat on the Black Sea coast, from which Russian soldiers were unloading, and an Ural truck in the south of the country, and then destroying them.
The fact that the Bayraktars have reappeared on the front lines indicates two things, says a Forbes correspondent who specializes in military hardware:
Kyiv was able to rebuild its TB-2 fleet, which originally consisted of about 70 drones, but was severely damaged by Russian air defense;
the effectiveness of Russian air defense in the southern sections of the frontline was severely reduced by the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In the first weeks after the invasion, drones were used to destroy air defense systems covering convoys of tanks and other equipment moving toward Kyiv and other major cities. After destroying at least a dozen Buk, TOR, and Pantsyrs in the first month of the war, the Ukrainians began using Bayraktars to perform two other important tasks – reconnaissance and air support, eliminating armored formations near Kyiv, and shelling Russian units that had seized Kherson airport and besieged Mykolaiv, wrote Tom Cooper, an expert on the Russian military.
The Oryx website, which takes into account documented losses on both sides, recorded the destruction of 99 units of Russian equipment by Bayraktars, including 15 surface-to-air missile systems, 10 helicopters, seven ships, and others.
During the first six months of the conflict, Russian troops shot down at least a dozen Ukrainian Bayraktars, but 35 new ones were purchased from Turkey over the course of the year. However, the front line has stabilized, and since the end of 2022, Russian troops have gained a foothold in the occupied areas, established air defense, and shot down many TB-2s, said Samuel Bendett, CNA analyst. Oryx reports the destruction of 24 Ukrainian Bayraktars.
Therefore, the Ukrainian Armed Forces began using them only for reconnaissance, keeping them away from the front line. Small drones carrying explosive charges, produced by both defense companies and numerous homebrew industries, began to be widely used for combat purposes.
It was only in September that attacks with TB-2s resumed, Forbes notes. In the previous months, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had been actively using precision-guided equipment and ammunition to undermine the effectiveness of Russian defense on the southern front. The return of the Bayraktars to active combat operations indicates that this task has been largely successfully accomplished.
Background. As reported, the Baykar Makina company handed over a Bayraktar TV2 strike UAV to the DIU free of charge.