Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak in an interview with 5 Channel TV has refuted speculation that the country has signed the contract to acquire Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles.
A few days ago Ukrainian media reported that Ukraine has acquired Bayraktar unmanned combat aerial vehicles from Turkey. According to a news release put out by Mil.in.ua, during an official visit to Turkey by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on 3-4 November, was signed an agreement on the purchase of Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles manufactured by Baykar Makina.
But now, Stepan Poltorak has refuted speculation that the country has acquired the Bayraktar TB2. He added that negotiations are underway for the acquisition of new tactical unmanned aerial vehicles with Turkey and other countries.
According to the Baykar Makina company, the Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicle is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance class system developed for tactical reconnaissance and surveillance missions.
Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle can carry a maximum payload of more than 55kg. Bayraktar can fly up to 22,500 feet and loiter for more than 24 hours.
Prototype Development Phase started within 2007 based on competition model. Bayraktar Tactical UAS with its critical all subsystems including Flight Control, INS-GPS, Automatic Take Off-Landing systems developed in house demonstrated fully automatic taxi, take off, cruise, landing, parking phases in 2009 and was selected as the winner of the program.
Final production stage officially started in 2012.