Ukraine tests Bayraktar TB2 drone amid tensions with Russia

Hsmilitarycom: Ukranian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that military drills would be conducted in response to the exercises Russia has held in Belarus near the border with Ukraine.

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and deployed 30,000 more in Belarus for joint drills, prompting fears of a Russian invasion in Ukraine. Russia denies it.

Reznikov announced that the Ukrainian army would drill the use of Bayraktar armed drones as well as US Javelin anti-tank missiles and Swedish NLAW missiles.

Ukraine had first used Bayraktar TB2 drones against pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine in October.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed an agreement for the production of Bayraktar drones in Ukraine.

Turkey’s armed unmanned aerial vehicles have won a reputation for their combat prowess in recent years after demonstrating their effectiveness in recent military combats such as in Syria, Libya and in the Caucasus, as well as in its fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party inside its own borders.

Turkey’s military support for close ally Azerbaijan, including armed drones, is credited with helping secure victory over Armenian backed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.

The TB2 drones are produced by the private Baykar company, which is run by Erdoğan’s son-in-law Selcuk Bayraktar.