Unmanned aerial vehicle system presented - Bayraktar TB2

On Tuesday, the Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicle system was presented at the "Colonel Marko Živković" barracks in Pleso, with a flyby of one of the six purchased aircraft, which Defense Minister Ivan Anušić described as "impressive" and Colonel Andrija Tijan as "a great day for the Croatian Military".

“This is a great day for the Croatian Military. In a short time, through the joint efforts of all branches, with the support of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense and the Baykar Company, we have shown that we can achieve what initially seemed like a huge challenge. Bayraktar TB2 is ours today and we can proudly say that the Croatian Military has significantly increased its combat capabilities,” said Lt. Colonel Andrija Tijan.

“The procurement of six armed Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles from the Turkish company Baykar is a strategic decision of the Government from November last year,” he reminded. Given the cooperation with the Turkish company, the presentation was also attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Croatia, Nurdan Erpulat Altuntaş, and the Military Attaché of the Republic of Turkey to the Republic of Croatia, Brigadier General Cüneyt Ali Demirtürk.

In addition to the unmanned aerial vehicles and the training of the Croatian Armed Forces personnel that they underwent in Turkey from April to August this year, the contract also included the procurement of weapons, spare parts and tools, aggregates and vehicles, stationary and mobile control stations, terminals for receiving and processing encrypted data, a command post, a training simulator, and support from Turkish specialists in Croatia. Facilities for accommodating the new unit have been built and adapted, as well as aviation and communications infrastructure.

“All participants successfully completed the training with above-average results and are fully qualified to maintain the system, its deployment and use in the full spectrum of capabilities from reconnaissance and intelligence tasks to combat use itself. The communication architecture required for the use of the system was built so that the system can operate on the entire territory of the Republic of Croatia,” said Tijan.

Unmanned system for combat, but also civilian operations

Although it is an unmanned system, the presence of two pilots is mandatory when controlling it.

“Unlike drones, this is a remotely piloted aircraft and it flies in controlled airspace, which means that we control it in the same way as any other aircraft with people in it. The communication with flight control is the same and the traffic management is the same, and therefore the level of pilot training must be the same as for pilots sitting in the aircraft,” explained the colonel.

The capabilities of the system do not only apply to combat operations, but can also be used for various civilian activities, from border and coastal surveillance, to detecting fires and missing persons, and the aircraft can be in the air for more than 20 hours.

Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Anušić described the system as "impressive and operational".

“Very impressive, very operational, concrete. The Bayraktar operational system is not just what you see here, but it is a huge system that uses artificial intelligence to guide and control the flight of the drone itself and its operations, both for reconnaissance and intelligence, for combat operations, but also for search and rescue. So, it has absolutely several options for operation, work and can be used not only in the Ministry of Defense for its combat operations, which is its final and ultimate task, but for reconnaissance and intelligence, but as I said, also for search and rescue,” said Minister of Defense Ivan Anušić.

Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Tihomir Kundid pointed out that unmanned aerial systems are no longer just support, but have become key elements related to the combat power of the armed forces.

“Unmanned aerial systems today have exponential growth and development, which ultimately means a much greater threat to ground forces, but also a threat in the context of maneuver implementation when military operations are carried out. In this sense, unmanned aerial systems are no longer just support, they have become key elements related to the combat power of the armed forces. In this context, the armed forces have moved in the direction of equipment and modernization in order to equip themselves and develop the ability to operate with unmanned aerial systems that are at the strategic level such as the Bayraktar, but also with small FPV drones,” said the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, Lieutenant General Tihomir Kundid.

When asked if there are plans to purchase more Bayraktars, he said:

“We are currently completing the purchase. If the need for additional quantities is demonstrated, then we will go in that direction,” he said.

He said that the aircraft can carry a load of 150 kilograms, which means that it also has the ability to integrate FPV drones developed by the Croatian company Orqa, and that it has its own weapons, which are laser-guided missiles and bombs with a range of up to 15 kilometers.

Source: HRT