Forbes: Bayraktars returned to the battlefield in Ukraine, a bad sign for Russians
This indicates that the effectiveness of Russian air defense in the southern sections of the frontline could have been severely reduced by the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Turkish Bayraktar TB-2 drones played an important role in repelling Russian aggression at the beginning of the war, allowing Ukrainian units to stop enemy armored columns. But then the Bayraktars practically disappeared from view, as the conditions for their use after the Russian troops had consolidated their positions on the defensive lines proved unfavorable. After a long break, the Bayraktars reappeared on the battlefield.
This was reported by Forbes.
This could mean that the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ efforts to systematically destroy Russian air defense assets, supply and logistics routes, and ammunition depots during the three-month counteroffensive have paid off.
On Sunday, video footage emerged of TB-2s watching a patrol boat on the Black Sea coast, from which Russian soldiers were unloading, and an Ural truck in the south of the country, and then destroying them.
The fact that the Bayraktars have reappeared on the front line indicates two things, says a Forbes correspondent who specializes in military equipment:
- Kyiv was able to rebuild its fleet with TB-2s, which initially consisted of about 70 drones, but was severely damaged by Russian air defense;
- the effectiveness of Russian air defense in the southern sections of the frontline has been severely reduced by the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In the first weeks after the invasion, drones were used to destroy air defense systems covering convoys of tanks and other equipment moving toward Kyiv and other major cities. Having destroyed at least a dozen Buk, TOR, and Pantsyrs in the first month of the war, Ukrainians began using Bayraktars to perform two other important tasks: reconnaissance and air support, eliminating armored formations near Kyiv, and shelling Russian units that had seized Kherson airport and besieged Mykolaiv, wrote Tom Cooper, an expert on the Russian armed forces.
The Oryx website, which takes into account documented losses on both sides, recorded the destruction of 99 pieces of Russian equipment by Bayraktars, including 15 surface-to-air missile systems, 10 helicopters, seven ships, and others.
In the first six months of the conflict, Russian troops shot down at least a dozen Ukrainian Bayraktars, but 35 new ones were purchased from Turkey in the course of the year. However, the front line has stabilized, and since the end of 2022, Russian troops have gained a foothold in the occupied areas, established air defense, and shot down many TB-2s, said Samuel Bendett, a CNA analyst. Oryx reports the destruction of 24 Ukrainian Bayraktars.
Therefore, the Ukrainian Armed Forces began using them only for reconnaissance, keeping them away from the front line. Small drones carrying explosive charges have been widely used for military purposes, with production being organized by both defense companies and numerous homebrew industries.
It was only in September that the TB-2 strikes resumed, Forbes notes. In the previous months, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had been actively using precision-guided equipment and ammunition to undermine the effectiveness of Russian defenses on the southern front. The return of the Bayraktars to active combat operations indicates that this task has been largely successfully accomplished.
