We all know that technology in all sectors has drastically changed over the last few decades,
and it should be no surprise that the military side is no different. Over the years,
we have plenty of new and innovative weapons that foreign countries have invented. One of
the latest pieces of technology that we have seen in warfare has to be the Turkish Bayraktar TB2,
recently brought into the limelight by Ukraine. So, what exactly is this drone,
and how is it helping Ukraine? More importantly, how does it even work? We shall find out the
answers to all these questions right now! So without any further ado, let’s get started!
Ever since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine took place, Russia has been showing
off its massive arsenal of weapons. Not just that, but they have also made a statement by showing the
different world types of advanced technological weapons. They have made it clear why they are
renowned for having one of the best military powers worldwide. One might guess that Ukraine
is far behind Russia when it comes to weapons, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have anything fancy.
Ukraine is a technologically advanced country; we have already seen that many of their tanks and
aircraft are not really old school but modern, so it is safe to say that they indeed are up to date
with the rest of the world. They further showed their modernization in weapons when Ukraine made
use of the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone. The drone has been extremely successful for Ukraine so far
as it has been used to destroy multiple Russian military pieces of equipment including tanks and
even missile systems. The ministry of defense of Ukraine has even posted a video of the drone
destroying anti-aircraft missile systems in the Malyna district which is located around 100km
from Kyiv. This is not the only time they have posted this kind of video. In fact, the TB2 drone
has been involved in a lot of other missions where it successfully destroyed its target without being
harmed itself, and the videos have been regularly posted by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
So, what exactly is this drone? Well, let me tell you,
even though this drone has received a lot of attention recently, it was actually first tested
in the outback in 2014. As the name suggests, they were made in Turkey and have been in use
for the nation ever since. It was in 2019 when these devices first reached Ukraine, and well,
they never really needed them until the invasion took place. The TB2 has been an
absolute nightmare for the Russian soldiers as it deals a ton of damage and has a decent amount of
range too. This device is one of the key reasons why Ukraine has been able to resist so well.
The Turkish Bayraktar TB2 is actually a medium-altitude long-range unmanned aerial
vehicle. What it means by medium-altitude here is the fact that it operates around 3 to 9km
in the air. As you can tell from the name, the thing that makes this drone an absolute monster
is, of course, its vast range. This thing can shoot from the sky beyond the reach of
most drone destruction devices and therefore can safely return once it has obliterated its target.
Another massive advantage of using this drone is the fact that it can be controlled remotely.
This means that even if the drone is shooted down, there would be no casualties. This drone
is less of a drone and more of a fighter jet. Why am I saying this? Because of its size,
it’s nowhere near the size of a regular drone. The length of TB2 is actually 6.5 meters,
and its wingspan is 12 meters. Despite being this huge, it is actually relatively lightweight,
with its weight being something around 650 kilograms. It may seem like a big number,
but a vehicle with 6 meters in length having 650 kg of weight is nowhere near heavy. Of course, a
significant contribution behind its having such a less amount of mass is the materials used to build
it. This drone only lacks one thing, and that is speed. Since it is not heavy at all and its shape,
it faces a lot of air resistance. Due to that, despite having great power,
this device cannot run that fast. It has a maximum speed of 220 kilometers per hour which is around
0.18 Mach; not that fast but I don’t think it is slow. Remember, it still runs at the
speed of a sports car; it is just slow when you compare it to other advanced flying vehicles.
Now the main question is, how does this thing operate? I mean, such a thing could not just be
controlled through a simple remote; it is quite a complex device after all. Not only is it equipped
with highly advanced infrared cameras, but it has a ton of sensors. It also has laser rangefinders
and target indicators to locate its targets. Last but not least, it, of course, comes with
a lot of ammunition which is used to destroy all the different kinds of military equipment that it
targets. So you see, it is quite a complex machine and would of course require someone or maybe a
team of intellectuals to run it properly. It is indeed the latter; the drone is so complex that
three different people are required to control it properly. It is no different than a fighter jet,
you can even say it's more complex. There is of course a pilot who is responsible for driving
this UAV remotely from a safe distance. There is also a person who operates the weapons, his job is
to initiate attacks properly after the target has been spotted. Both of these people are commanded
by the commander, the third person in the crew. He is the captain of the ship you can say,
responsible for making all the decisions and properly guiding the other two in the team.
When on a mission, all the three people have to stay together in a control room to maneuver the
drone properly. The control room is equipped with all the different machines and controllers that
are required to properly use the drone. What is that equipment? We are not sure. This is
because the control room has never been revealed anywhere on the internet, so it still remains a
mystery. The drone is equipped with a ton of cameras which allow the controllers to view
everything around it at s 360-degree angle. This allows them to properly initiate their attacks
without compromising on defense. Since it has such amazing vision, it can also dodge incoming attacks
given it has been spotted and it's not fast enough to hit the drone before it changes its direction.
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Okay, now that we all know how it works, what about the payload? What is it even equipped with?
Well, the total payload weight is around 150 kilograms. Apart from having sensors, cameras,
and target indicators, it also has a system to shoot missiles and of course missiles themselves.
The missiles on this thing are crazy strong, they can pierce through steel that is 200mm thick.
Talk about being destructive. To locate its target, it uses a laser tracking system,
and once the target is locked, just boom! As I mentioned before, the best thing about
this drone is the absurd range it has. It has a crazy range of around 15 kilometers and since it
specializes in shooting down weapons that are on the ground, there is just no way it would
miss its target. Another advantage of having such a high range is, of course the ability
to not be targeted much. There are not many weapons that have a range of 15 kilometers.
The reason that this device has been so successful is the fact that it took all the Russian soldiers
by surprise. They were not expecting an attack like this at all. This is due to the fact that
the areas this drone attacked were not equipped with detection systems that can detect drones.
It is probably because they were not expecting the Ukrainian defense to come on the offense
like this. It stormed the areas it targeted and obliterated everything. The Turkish Bayraktar
TB2 is a drone that is proving to be very good for Ukraine. It has shown potential,
and it is mostly because of the fact that how efficient this thing is in taking down its
targets. What are your thoughts on the drone? Do you think we will be seeing drones that are
even better than this one in the future? Do let us know that down in the comment section down below!
Be sure to check this video over here!