Turkey will supply Bayraktar TB2 tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) manufactured by Baykar Makina to Ukraine, the CFTS reports, citing the Ukrainian Military Portal.
According to the portal, an agreement on purchase of these UAVs was signed during President Petro Poroshenko’s visit to Turkey from November 3 to 4. Poroshenko personally visited the company during his trip to the country last week.
Negotiations on purchase of the UAVs lasted about two years. During this period, representatives of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense visited Turkey to observe various stages of testing of the Bayraktar TB2.
The UAV is equipped with a Rotax 912 internal-combustion engine. Its fuselage is made of composite materials and it is equipped with an automatic take-off and landing system. It is capable of carrying guided anti-tank missiles and aircraft bombs.
The Bayraktar TB2 has a length of 6.5 meters; a wingspan of 12 meters, a communication range of 150 kilometers; a maximum take-off weight of 560 kilograms; maximum payload of 50 kilograms; a maximum speed of up to 222 km/h; a cruise speed of 130 km/h.
According to the report, this model set the autonomous flight endurance record for medium-altitude tactical UAVs during test flights in June and August 2014, when it remained in the air at an altitude of 8 kilometers for 24 hours 34 minutes.
The possibility of partial localization of production of tactical unmanned aerial vehicles at the state-owned Antonov aircraft manufacturing plant’s facilities is currently being considered.
As the CFTS portal reported, an air traffic control system for UAVs will soon be tested in the Gulf of Finland.
