As the Russo-Ukrainian War inches forward towards the one-year mark, Türkiye has used its unique position – as a NATO member and as the only remaining connection of Russia to the West – to both arm Ukraine as well as host several rounds of peace talks and negotiating the Black Sea grain deal. Though Türkiye has remained the friendliest of all the NATO countries towards Moscow, it is also the only NATO country that has supplied armament to Ukraine without the explicit condition not to use these against targets located inside Russia. Ukraine has gladly made use of that operational flexibility, using its Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs to strike targets in Russia's Kursk and Belgorod Oblasts on numerous occasions. [1] [2] Its strategic leniency is not the only thing that distinguishes it amongst Ukraine's allies however, with its military support ranking as one of the most expansive of all NATO members.

 

It is not often that a weapon system is proving so popular that countries are waiting in line to buy it. Ironically, this appears to be the current situation with the Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). Already in service with or on order by 31 countries other than Türkiye, the TB2's commercial success currently looks to be without bounds. With new export agreements being signed with more countries to this day, there is little doubt that the TB2 will go down in history as world's most successful UCAV both in terms of export clients and numbers sold. In this capacity it is now consistently beating its main two competitors on the drone market of China and Israel, whose products though more attractive than expensive (and exclusive) Western wares or underperforming and politically-laden Iranian ones have shown their own deficiencies. The TB2's success should come as little surprise to those that examined the system in combat, as the TB2 is arguably the first UCAV that manages to combine reliability and affordability with devastatingly effective results on the battlefield: a capability keenly looked for in the 21st century.