Baykar Delivers First 6 Bayraktar TB2 Drones To Poland
The first Bayraktar TB2 UAVs from BAYKAR were delivered to Poland. The delivery was announced by the Polish Ministry of Defense. A ceremony held at the Polish Air Force’s 12th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Base in Mirosławiec marked the delivery of the first Bayraktar TB2 set, which includes 3 mobile control stations and 6 unmanned aerial vehicles. The delivery ceremony was attended by M. Błaszczak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Poland.
“Today we are reconstituting the military units of the Polish Army,” Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Mariusz Błaszczak said at the ceremony. “We are strengthening the forces of the Polish Army. The first Bayraktars are already at the 12th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Base. It is important to increase our defense capabilities with the use of Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles. In addition to unmanned aerial vehicles, we also ordered and received radar and control stations. We are ready to serve with these systems.”
“The opposition in Poland claimed that these military vehicles could not be used,” he continued. “However, after the success of the Bayraktars in Ukraine, it was clear that we were right,” Minister Błaszczak said. “This is a great step for the modernization of the Polish army. We are starting to strengthen our military units with Bayraktar TB2. We ordered these long before Russia launched its attack on Ukraine. What is happening in Ukraine reveals how right our decision to buy this weapon was. Bayraktar TB2s will increase the air defense power of Poland and our army will be stronger.”
In a statement Baykar Chief Technology Officer Selçuk Bayraktar stated that the first system was delivered to Poland and added, “There is great excitement there, too. The Minister of Defense of Poland announced on social media, ‘We are waiting for our Bayraktars’. We gave them the best preparation possible for the task.”
On May 24, 2021, Polish President Andrzej Duda met with President Erdoğan in Ankara as part of his two-day visit to Turkey, and signatures were signed for the supply of 24 Bayraktar TB2s to Poland at a ceremony held after the meeting. Haluk Bayraktar, CEO of Baykar, signed on behalf of the Republic of Turkey, and Mariusz Błaszczak, Minister of Defense, signed on behalf of the Republic of Poland. Baykar made the following statement at the time: “We are proud! We signed a contract for Turkey to export high-tech drones to a NATO and EU member country for the first time. Bayraktar TB2s will serve in the European skies in the inventory of the Polish Army.”
Each Bayraktar TB2 set (1 set consists of 6 Bayraktar TB2s) that Poland will receive is worth approximately $67 million, according to the Polish Ministry of Defense. The cost of the four sets to Poland is estimated to be around $270 million. The contract calls for the delivery of 24 Bayraktar TB2s, as well as SAR radars, simulators, and spare parts, as well as Roketsan’s MAM-L and MAM-C laser-guided smart micro munitions, which are used by Bayraktar UAVs. In addition, Baykar will provide Poland with a 24-month warranty, a training and logistics package, and a technology transfer that includes service and repair.
A Bayraktar TB2, produced for the Polish Army, was on display for the first time at the MSPO 2022 International Defense Industry Exhibition, held in Kielce, Poland, from September 6 to September 9, 2022. The drone in question was returned to Turkey after the fair as it was a real product, and its tests were still ongoing. Baykar later announced that Polish pilots had completed their training with a twitter post on September 16 stating, “Our Polish trainees who will serve with Bayraktar TB2s, which will enter the Polish Army inventory, have successfully graduated. Congratulations.” At the graduation ceremony held at the Baykar Flight Training Center in Keşan, the soldiers who will serve in the Polish Army as pilots, mission commanders, useful load operators, and technicians received their certificates at the end of the four-month training.
With the completion of final acceptance activities in the coming period, Poland will be ready to put Bayraktar TB2 systems into operational service. The remaining Bayraktar TB2 deliveries to Poland will take place between 2023 and 2024. The second set is due in the first quarter of 2023, the third set in the fourth quarter of 2023, and the final set in the first quarter of 2024.