More than two months into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the ukrainian airspace is still contested. This is due to a combination of robust ukrainian air defences bolstered by timely and proactive intelligence sharing from the US and other western countries, as well as Russian military shortcomings. As a result, the Ukrainian air force continues to fly sorties daily despite its opponents vast numerical advantage.
Technological superiority the berkshire tb2 has been racking up kills the unmanned aerial system reportedly played a role in the loss of the Russian ballistic missile cruiser Moscow, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, when two Ukrainian neptune anti-ship missiles hit the vessel Indeed, the bay raktar tb2 has proven to be highly effective against naval targets. Recently, the Ukrainian air force used a bear aktar tb2 to successfully engage and destroy two russian raptor first attack boats in the black sea, and the drone is proving to be the bane of russian forces occupying the famous snake island on the black sea. Footage released by the Ukrainian armed forces shows the bear aktar tb2 destroying a command center and ammunition depot on the island.
So far in the battle, the unmanned aerial system has destroyed russian panzer s1 tor sam 15 9k 35 strela 10 zu 23 2 and buck sa-11 short and medium air defence systems, however the idea of the unstoppable all-powerful bear aktar tb2 is deceiving. The unmanned aerial system has limitations, and the Russian military has successfully shot down several drones. In a recent interview, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zlinski stated that while the bear aktar tb2 has played an important role, it is not invincible. With all due respect, those or other drones can assist but do not affect the outcome because there is a history of missiles, artillery, and air defence. Ukraine's president had stated.
It should be noted that the Russian military does not have advanced counter-drone capabilities, or at least not as advanced as some other nations, hence the aktar tb2 performs better than it would ordinarily against an opponent with effective anti-aircraft and counter-drone capabilities. Turkey and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan have skillfully utilised the baraktar tb2 in Ukraine's war for diplomatic objectives.
Ankara provided ukraine with bear aktar tb2s both before and after the Russian invasion, but the high-profile successes of the Turkish-made unmanned aerial system the ukrainians even made a song about it have obscured Turkey's strategic ambiguity regarding the war despite being a NATO member and supposed US ally. Turkey is the only nato state to have allowed russian flights to pass through its airspace.
Ankara closed its aerospace to russian military flights with troops a few days ago, but it did so nearly two months into the war, when the russian military would have already moved any troops required, and Turkey closed the Bosporus straits to all military vessels only after the russian navy sent all necessary warships. It appears that Turkey is looking to compensate for its pro-Russian actions by selling and praising the bear aktar tb2 drone to Ukraine.
The bay tb2 is a medium altitude and long-range tactical unmanned aerial system that can conduct intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance operations in addition to strike missions. Powered by a rotax 912 internal combustion engine that can produce more than a hundred horsepower of thrust and moves a two-bladed variable pitch propeller at the back of the aircraft, the bariktar tb2 can reach speeds of 80 to 138 miles per hour or 70 to 120 knots per hour.
The unmanned aerial system had a maximum operational height of around 27000 feet, a range of 93 miles or 150 kilometres, and an operational endurance of 27 hours. The bear aktar tb2 can carry up to 330 pounds (150 kilogrammes) of ammunition and four mam c or mam-l air-to-ground missiles. The former weighs 14 pounds and has a multi-purpose warhead with high explosive and armor-piercing capabilities, while the latter has a 48-pound warhead and can carry both a multi-purpose and a thermobaric warhead developed by Baycard Meccana.
The drone's principal customer is the Turkish military, although Ankara has been exporting the unmanned aerial system and the drone has seen combat with the Kazakh military during the armenia-kazakhstan conflict in 2020 in libya syria and currently in ukraine. The barakhtar tb2 is an established unmanned aerial system with more than 200 000 operational flight hours under its wings.