Turkey The Turkish military's use of the TB2 gained prominence in counterinsurgency operations against sites of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and
People's Protection Units (YPG) that were in Iraq and Syria. On 30 June 2018, one Turkish Air Force Bayraktar TB2 crashed due to technical problems in
Hatay province, Turkey. On 15 August 2018,
Turkish Land Forces successfully used a Bayraktar TB2 in a
joint cross-border operation, of the
Turkish Armed Forces and the
National Intelligence Organization of Turkey, to kill the senior (PKK) leader and board member of the
Kurdistan Communities Union İsmail Özden in
Sinjar District, northwestern
Iraq. A total of 37 Turkish Bayraktar TB2s successfully flew over 1551 hours in the earthquake zone of the
2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake. The drones have been instrumental in providing continuous updates and data to the crisis-response team for damage detection and search-and-rescue support, along with coordination activities. On 20 June 2023, a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone crashed in Qandil, northern Iraq. The wreck fell in an area under Kurdish militia control.
Turkish use in Syria In March 2020 Bayraktar TB2s,
Anka-S UAVs, and an array of
Koral electronic jammers were deployed and extensively used in coordinated action to strike Syrian army targets on the ground during
Operation Spring Shield, launched by Turkey following
losses the Turkish forces incurred at the hands of the
Russian forces in northwestern Syria at the end of February 2020. In this operation, in which Turkish forces used TB-2s in large numbers, they virtually "blinded" enemy radars and neutralized Syrian air defense systems such as
Pantsir and
Buk. As a result, the attacks of the Assad regime forces, supported by Russia and Iran, on Idlib were forced to stop. The deployment was assessed by experts to be a success and a tactical game-changer. During the week of fighting, Turkish drones took out 73 Syrian armed vehicles with 405 Syrians troops including 30 high ranking officers. The OSINT
Oryx Blog, in its research according to open sources, found 37 tanks of the
T-55,
T-62 and
T-72 models, 9
BMP-1 armored combat vehicles, 16
2S1 Gvozdika howitzers, 1
122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30) gun, 3
M-46 guns, 1
152-mm howitzer M1943 (D-1) gun, 6
2S3 Akatsiya howitzers, 8
BM-21 Grad MLRS, 1 122mm HM-20
MLRS, 2 x 122mm MRL
MLRS, 2 160mm M160 mortars, 1 240mm M240 mortar, 4
ZSU-23-4 armored anti-aircraft vehicles, 2
ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns, 1
S-75 Dvina surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile system, 2
Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air anti-aircraft and artillery systems, 1 SNR-125 air defense radar and 21 different types of trucks were destroyed in the
TSK drone attack.
The New Lines Institute reported that it received information from sources close to the American government, and that as a result of the Turkish Armed Forces' attack, the Syrian Army lost 3 warplanes, 3 UAVs, 8 helicopters, 135 tanks, 86 artillery and MLRS, 77 armored vehicles, 9 ammunition depots, 5 air defense systems, and 16 anti-tank and mortar positions. It was also stated that an average of 60 regime soldiers were thought to have been killed per day between February 27 and March 5. There is only visual evidence for three Bayraktar drones being shot down. On 23 August 2020, another Bayraktar TB2 drone was shot down by Syrian air defenses near
Kafr Nabl, Idlib, after being detected spotting targets for Syrian rebels. In 2022, Turkish drone strikes, including Bayraktar drones, killed 50 SDF fighters and 10 civilians.
Libya In June 2019, international news media reported that Libya's UN-recognized
Government of National Accord (GNA) used Bayraktar TB2s to strike an airbase held by General Haftar's
Libyan National Army (LNA). Despite the UN embargo on
Libya's ongoing civil war, it is suspected that at least 3 Bayraktar TB2s were being used over Tripoli by the government forces. Video evidence, as early as 11 June 2019, showed at least one TB2 flying over Tripoli about to land at
Mitiga International Airport's military section, under control of GNA-allied forces. Turkish supplied TB-2s were successful against
Pantsir air defense systems in Libya and destroyed 9 units. • On 14 May 2019, a GNA TB2 was destroyed by LNA defenses in Al-Jufra area. • On 6 June 2019, two GNA TB2s were destroyed by LNA attacks on Mitiga Airport. • On 30 June 2019, a TB2 was destroyed by LNA defenses. A GNA TB2 was shot down near al-Jufra airbase during the same attack. • On 14 December 2019, a GNA TB2 was shot down in Ain Zara, Tripoli. • On 2 January 2020, a GNA TB2 was shot down south of Mitiga Airport. • On 28 February 2020, the LNA shot down two GNA TB2, near Tripoli, providing images of both wrecks. • On 31 March 2020, the LNA shot down two GNA TB2 drones near Tripoli; one at Misrata Air College and another in Al-Tawaisha. • On 11 April 2020, a GNA TB2 was shot down in Tarhuna. • On 17 April 2020, two GNA TB2 drones were shot down, one with serial number
T95, near
Bani Walid and another in Misratah. • On 18 April 2020, a GNA TB2 was shot down by LNA forces south of Tripoli. • On 2 May 2020, a GNA TB2 was destroyed at Arada, near Mitiga Airport, downed by LNA forces. and another TB2 in Qaryat. • On 7 June 2020, two GNA TB2 drones were shot down by LNA forces near Sirte. and 23 were reported lost since LNA offensive in Western Libya that began in April 2019. During the
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Bayraktar TB2s were used against the
Armed Forces of Armenia with great success. Azerbaijan used TB2s to destroy Armenian artillery, infantry positions, and military vehicles, including
BM-30 Smerch MLRS,
T-72 tanks, and
BMP-1 and
BMP-2 IFVs. On 8 November 2020, another Azerbaijani Bayraktar TB2 was shot down by air defense, in southeastern Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ukraine armed with
MAM-L; two ground control stations are in the background As part of its military modernization program, the
Armed Forces of Ukraine purchased 12 Bayraktar TB2s in 2019. In January 2019, Baykar signed an agreement with Ukrspetsproject, part of
Ukroboronprom, for the purchase of six TB2s and 3 ground control stations worth US$69 million for the Ukrainian army. Ukraine received the first batch of the UAVs in March 2019. After successful testing of the aircraft, the
Ukrainian Navy placed a separate order for six TB2s, to be delivered in 2021, according to navy officials. Meanwhile, Turkish and Ukrainian officials announced the establishment of a joint venture to produce 48 additional Bayraktar TB2s in
Ukraine. The first batch of the Bayraktar TB2 complex was delivered to the navy in July 2021. During a
Russian military buildup in Crimea and near Ukraine's borders, a TB2 conducted a reconnaissance flight over the
Donbas region on 9 April 2021. This was the first operational use of the aircraft by Ukrainian forces within an
active conflict zone. In October 2021, a TB2 drone was used for the first time in combat during the war, targeting a
Russian separatist artillery position, destroying a
D-30 howitzer, and halting the bombardment of Ukrainian troops near
Hranitne.
2022 Russian invasion During the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, TB2 drones were used by Ukraine's armed forces against Russian forces and equipment. In January, prior to the invasion, the spokesperson for the air force command, Lt. Col. Yuri Ihnat, stated that "Ukraine has approximately 20 Bayraktar drones, but we will not stop there". On 2 March, Ukrainian defense minister
Oleksii Reznikov announced the arrival of additional TB2 drones. According to video footage released by the armed forces, TB2 drones have successfully destroyed, on different occasions, a Russian command post, military vehicles—including
tanks,
IFVs, and different types of trucks—
surface-to-air missile systems (including
Buk and
Tor systems),
self-propelled artillery,
multiple rocket launcher (MLRS),
howitzers, and an
electronic warfare system. The
People's Militia of the Luhansk People's Republic claimed it shot down two TB2 drones near the city of Luhansk. On 27 February, Ukraine's air force confirmed two strikes by TB2s on Russian convoys in the
Kherson and
Zhytomyr regions. The chief of Ukraine's air force, Lieutenant General
Mykola Oleschuk, called the UAV system "life-giving". The popularity of the drone in Ukraine led to a song, "
Bayraktar", which praised the drone while also insulting the Russian army and its invasion. Ukrainian drones appear to be equipped with anti-jamming antennas. They appear to use
MAM-C and MAM-L laser-guided bombs. Traditional search radars appear to struggle against the TB2 because of its slow speed and size, which give it a low radar cross section. One radar that was destroyed on 7 May appeared to be actively scanning just prior to supposedly being hit, although Russian units reportedly turn off their own radars to reduce the radar being detected and targeted. The drone can also be deployed within minutes and launched from a normal road. On 17 March 2022, a Bayraktar TB2 was shot down over Kyiv; Russia published images of the drone wreckage. A second TB2 drone was shot down on 29 March 2022, in eastern Ukraine. On 2 April a third TB-2 drone was shot down. On 12 April 2022, one Bayraktar TB2 was claimed to have been shot down by off the coast of
Crimea. On 13 April 2022, Ukrainian sources claimed at least two
R-360 Neptune missiles were responsible for the sinking of the
Russian cruiser Moskva – causing an explosion on one of the ship's exposed deckside missile tubes. Drones, likely TB2s, were alleged to have helped decoy the cruiser's defences. On 26 and 27 April, three additional TB2 drones were destroyed, two in Kursk Oblast and the third in
Belgorod Oblast, Russia, by a
Pantsir-S1. On 1 May, a TB2 drone with registration
S51T was shot down in Kursk region, Russia. TB2 losses amounted to seven units confirmed visually. On 2 May, Bayraktar drones operated by Ukraine attacked and destroyed two Russian
Raptor-class patrol boats near
Snake Island. In the same deployment, a TB2 drone destroyed a
Tor missile launcher on the island, while a second launcher was destroyed as it was being unloaded from a landing craft. This cleared the way for a bombing run by a Ukrainian Air Force
Sukhoi Su-27 'Flanker' aircraft against buildings on the island. On 23 May 2022, the remains of a Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2, tail number
75, were found in Romanian territorial waters by Romanian authorities. The drone was likely shot down during the Snake Island attacks of 7 May. On 28 May 2022 Lithuanian citizens fundraised $3.2 million, out of the $5.37 million unit cost, to buy a single Bayraktar TB2 drone for Ukraine. On 2 June, Baykar said: "The people of Lithuania have honorably raised funds to buy a Bayraktar TB2 for Ukraine. Upon learning this, Baykar will give a Bayraktar TB2 to Lithuania free of charge and asks those funds go to Ukraine for humanitarian aid." From the beginning of the invasion to late June, Ukraine received over 50 TB2s. On 28 June, Defence Minister Reznikov announced that Baykar would be devoting all of its capacities to meet the needs of the Ukrainian armed forces, fulfilling its requirement for "dozens more" of the aircraft. In July 2022, Haluk Bayraktar,
CEO of Baykar, stated in an interview that his company would never supply Russia with its drones as he supports Ukraine's sovereignty and independence.
Further use and vulnerability Although at the start of the invasion Ukrainian drones, including the TB2, were able to be used to harass Russian forces, by summer 2022 they had become less effective in this role. The disorganized Russians were initially slow to set up proper air defenses; but once they did, Ukrainian UAVs were downed with increasing frequency. In addition to being shot down, electronic warfare is used to jam and disrupt communication links. This may have caused the Ukrainians to scale back TB2 use. On 25 July, a military expert told the BBC that the slow speed and medium altitudes of Bayraktar drones made them easy targets for Russian air defenses, and that many were shot down. In late July 2022, a TB2 with tail number
U139 was reported shot down in Belgorod Oblast, Russia. On 2 August another drone, with call sign
409, was shot down in Ukraine. On 2 September, the remains of a Ukrainian TB2 drone were discovered in Kherson. By July 2022, Bayraktar TB2 losses reached 14 units confirmed visually by that time. On 15 January 2023 a Bayraktar TB2 was downed by Russian Electronic Warfare systems Downed using EW systems. On 22 January 2023, the remains of a destroyed Bayraktar TB2 drone were found in Odesa. The commander of the Russian Air Defense Force, Lieutenant General Andrey Demin, claimed in April 2023 that Russia had shot down "more than 100" Bayraktar drones since the war began. On 23 February 2023, a Bayraktar TB2 crashed in Kharkiv oblast due to friendly fire. On 5 May 2023, the Ukrainian air force said it downed one of its own TB2 drones over Kyiv, after they lost control of it due to a "likely" technical malfunction. No casualties were reported from the incident. On 12 May, another Bayraktar TB2 drone was shot down by Russian forces near Marinka. By June 2023, the role of the remaining TB2 drones had changed from attack to reconnaissance, staying out of the range of Russian air defenses and using their more advanced optics and sensors to guide other drones. On 17 July 2023, another TB2 drone, T 263 was shot down by Russian forces in Kherson Oblast. On 3 September 2023, Ukraine released video of a KS-701 patrol boat being destroyed by a TB2 drone. This was the first time the drone had been confirmed as being used offensively in several months. Recently, it had been used for reconnaissance, such as correcting artillery fire, due to Russian air defences. It is believed that the degrading of Russian air defenses due to Ukrainian attacks have allowed TB2 drones to be used in air strikes again. However, Colonel Volodymyr Valiukh, a commander in Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate, reported in late October 2023 that TB2 drones are now rarely used and only for short-time reconnaissance missions because of more sophisticated Russian air defense and electronic warfare systems. He specifically said: "For the TB2, I don't want to use the word useless, but it is hard to find situations where to use them". On 3 September 2025, a Russian high speed boat is destroyed by Ukrainian TB2, killing 7 and injuring 4 on board. According to the
Oryx Blog, as of 25 February 2025, 26 Bayraktar TB2s were destroyed, either on the ground or having been shot down by Russian forces.
Ethiopia Ethiopian forces have reportedly been using the TB2 against the
TPLF in the
Tigray War. Satellite images have shown TB2 drones in
Harar Meda airbase, and debris of
MAM-L guided munition have been found in
Tigray. On 7 January 2022, a drone strike killed nearly 60 civilians and injured dozens more in a camp of internally displaced people in
Dedebit in Tigray; the missile used was a MAM-L exclusively used with the TB2 drone.
African insurgencies Some parts of Africa face attacks by highly mobile bands of Islamist militants, who move through scrubby terrain by motorbike to attack isolated military and civilian targets. These attacks had largely been in the
Sahel, but by 2019 they had been spreading. Drones provide countries with the aerial surveillance capacity to seek and potentially attack insurgents. Buying from Turkey reduces the dependence of Niger and Togo on former-colonial-power France.
2025 India-Pakistan conflict According to the
Indian armed forces, on the nights of 8 and 9 May during
Operation Sindoor, the Indian
Akashteer system directed Indian missile batteries to shoot down several Pakistani drones, including the Bayraktar TB2s. India claimed that the TB-2s failed to strike their targets. According to the Indian media, most drones were shot down as soon as they crossed into Indian airspace while several Bayraktar TB2s were downed while still over Pakistan. ==Variants==