Mali Becomes Fourth African Operator Of Bayraktar Akıncı Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles
Mali’s provisional government, led by General Abdoulaye Maïga, continues to receive drones from Turkey to strengthen the fight against terrorism and consolidate national security, which is still considered fragile.
Last week, Mali’s state television station, ORTM1 TV, broadcast a report on new military equipment delivered to the Mali Air Force (Armée de l’Air du Mali). Among the acquisitions, the Bayraktar Akinci unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) manufactured by Baykar Defense have attracted the most attention.
The footage has spotted at least two Bayraktar Akıncı UAVs in the “A” configuration at the Modibo Keita International Airport in Bamako’s capital. This variant has a total engine power of 900 HP provided by two 450 HP engines. It has also been observed that Mali has procured ROKETSAN’s MAM-T smart munitions and TEBER-81/82 laser/GPS guidance kits to complement these advanced unmanned systems.
With this delivery, Mali became the fourth country in Africa to use Bayraktar Akinci UAVs after Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Libya. Bayraktar Akıncı’s customers outside Africa include Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Saudi Arabia.
Details such as the cost of Mali’s contract with Baykar and how many Akıncı drones it covers are currently unknown. As a result, it will be revealed in the coming days whether the current delivery will cover the entire contract or if additional equipment batches will be delivered to Mali in the future.
What is currently known is that these unmanned systems will be used against many non-state armed actors in the Sahel region, which stretches from Mauritania to Sudan and has become the center of terrorism and violence on the African continent in recent years. According to the Global Terrorism Index 2022, 48% of terrorist attacks worldwide are carried out in the Sahel region.
The Akıncı procurement is not the first deal the Mali junta has made with Baykar Defence as part of its modernization strategy. The West African country had previously purchased an unknown number of the famous Bayraktar TB2 drones from the Turkish drone manufacturer. The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) have long been actively using TB2s in air operations against terrorists, but there have also been accusations of civilian casualties.
Apart from Turkey, Russia is another country from which the Malian junta has mainly received military equipment. Mali’s armed forces have received a lot of equipment from Moscow in recent years despite Russia’s unjustified and ongoing aggression against Ukraine. These include the L-39C Albatros light attack aircraft, the Sukhoi Su-25 twin-engine jet fighter, and various models of rotorcraft from the Soviet-designed Mil-Mi family of military helicopters.