Baykar Makina Celebrates The Launch of The 500th Unit of The Bayraktar TB2 Combat Drone

The first flight was in August 2014 with the Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV).

However, at a young age, Bayraktar TB2 has carved out a high combat reputation among various players.

Bearing the battle-proven title, the manufacturer, Baykar Makina (Technologies), is now flooded with export orders.

And regarding the Bayraktar TB2 order, Baykar Makina recently celebrated the 500th TB2 unit that rolled off the assembly line.

According to Hurriyet Daily News (26/6/2023), the 500th unit of Bayraktar TB2 has been completed with celebration at the Baykar Makina technology center in Istanbul's Başakşehir district.

The launch of the 500th TB2 unit was marked by the release of Bayraktar TB2 with the tail number T500 from the production line as a cumulative production of drones, including 80 drones that have been completed and deployed, so that now the total production of Bayraktar TB2 drones has reached 580 units.

Selçuk Bayraktar, Chief Technology Officer of Baykar Makina, praised the achievements and the production team behind the drone, which has been awarded as the most exported combat drone from Turkey and has demonstrated outstanding performance in various parts of the world.

Apart from the Bayraktar TB2 celebration, the event showcased other unmanned systems developed by Baykar, such as Bayraktar Aknc, Bayraktar TB3, and Bayraktar Kzlelma prototypes.

The Bayraktar TB2 has made its name in Turkish aviation history.

The TB2 drone managed to break the previous record for endurance and altitude, namely a flight of 27 hours and three minutes at an altitude of 27,300 feet (8,230 meters).

To date, the Bayraktar TB2 has flown more than 600,000 hours.

Of the many countries that are said to be interested in acquiring Bayraktar TB2, Indonesia is one.

The Indonesian Ministry of Finance has approved a request from the TNI for the procurement of combat drones with foreign loans and is currently evaluating suitable lenders for this procurement program.

Although there is no specific mention of the type of combat drone that will be acquired by Indonesia,

However, there is an interesting point: for ammunition, the document specifically mentions that the TNI AU must get the MAM-L (Mini Akilli Muhimmat-Lazer) Micro Smart Munition smart missile.

With the condition that the ammunition is in the form of MAM-L missiles, it is strongly suspected that the combat drone referred to in the acquisition program is the Bayraktar TB2, produced by Baykar Makina.

The reason is that MAM-L is the mainstay weapon in Bayraktar TB2.

One of the advantages of the Bayraktar TB2 combat drone is that it can destroy targets from a distance of 7 kilometers.

With a distance of 7 km from the target, this drone, the pride of Turkey, can escape the brunt of conventional short-range missile systems.

A screenshot on the web shows the navigation screen of a Canadian-made electro-optical module, namely the Wescam MX-15D, which is installed on the Bayraktar TB2 drone.