Poland Receives Final Shipment of TB2 Bayraktar Drones
On Thursday May 16, Poland received its last set of six TB2 Bayraktar drones from Turkey together with three mobile control stations and spare parts. The six drones are the last of four packages sent to Poland under a $270 million contract signed in 2021, bringing the total number of TB2 Bayraktars in Polish inventory to 24. The contract also included technology transfers which allow Poland to conduct necessary repairs, various training aids, and MAM-L and MAM–C laser-guided munitions. Polish operators had begun training on the systems in Turkey in the months leading up to the delivery of the first six platforms back in 2022. All 24 drones were delivered to the Polish airbase in Mirosławiec (12th Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Base) which is located in Northwestern Poland.
The TB2 Bayraktar became a household name due to its performance in the early phases of the Ukraine War. The medium-altitude long-endurance drones had first entered Ukrainian service in 2019, and were featured in multiple videos showing a large number of impressive kills against Russian systems such as an aerial kill against an Mi-8 helicopter. The system became a staple of pro-Ukrainian propaganda, with fundraising campaigns launched in Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine to purchase additional TB2s for the Ukrainian forces. Even a Ukrainian song was written about it at one point.
However, as Russian air defenses improved following the first weeks of the war, Bayraktar losses climbed sharply and the system is no longer commonly seen over the battlefield. Nevertheless, the initial successes proved enough to skyrocket the drone’s reputation, leading to an explosion in sales. The system has now been exported to nearly three dozen countries. Receiving their first systems in 2023 and 2024, Albania, Bangladesh, Kosovo, the Maldives and Romania are some of the latest countries to have added the Bayraktar to their arsenals. Japan, Iraq and Kuwait have also ordered the platform and are awaiting the first deliveries.