The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it dismayed over Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone systems in the Donbass region of Ukraine.
“Obviously, there can hardly be anything to rejoice about given that Turkish drones, as the story goes, are surfacing somewhere in Donbass,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday.
Turkish exports to various countries are “a serious issue,” he pointed out. “They buy something from us and ship their products elsewhere. Corresponding arrangements exist, including export controls where all these things are discussed. Through bilateral channels, we are also looking at an entire range of such episodes and will continue doing so,” Sergei Ryabkov added.
The Bayraktar TB2, known popularly as “Pantsir-hunter”, is a medium-altitude, long-range tactical Unmanned Aircraft System. It was developed by Kale-Baykar, a joint venture of Baykar Makina and the Kale Group.
This type of Unmanned Aircraft System marks the crown jewels of Turkey’s drone warfare arsenal with thousands of combat flight hours from North Africa to the Caucasus.
Two years earlier, the Armed Forces of Ukraine has received into service its first Bayraktar TB2 armed unmanned aerial vehicles.
In addition, earlier in October 2020, UkrSpetsEksport has reported that Ukraine is negotiating to buy additional 48 Bayraktar TB2 drones from Turkey.
Russia is very afraid of the appearance of these drones, as they showed excellent results in the fight against modern Russian-made air defense systems. The portfolio of the Turkish hunter-killer drone contains more than a dozen of Pantsir, Tor, Osa systems and hundred tanks and armored personnel carriers.