We are going through a very important period in which Turkish SİHAs crown their success with exports… A new era has begun in domestic and national SİHAs, which previously appeared in the Middle East and African countries, and which the West followed ‘quietly and deeply’ for a long time.
When the first exports to Europe were made to Ukraine, it was widely believed that the foundation of a process that would develop only between Ankara and Kiev was laid due to “motor partnerships and similar collaborations” both inside and outside. In the intervening time, it became clear that it was not so. First, high-level delegations from many different countries came to our country to examine Turkish SİHAs, and then the agreements followed each other.
Naturally, Poland attracted the greatest attention here because it was the first time a NATO member exported Turkish SİHA. In fact, this was an indication that our country had exceeded a very high military threshold, such as NATO standards, in domestic and national SİHAs.
Our experience in UAV goes back to the 1990s
After the sale of SİHA to Poland, there was a lot of news about the process. In this article, we will try to look at the back of the coin rather than repeating similar information and focus on the possible ‘widespread use’ issue.
Defense Industry Researcher Fatih Mehmet Küçük explains the prevalence we are talking about through an interesting metaphor… According to Küçük, F-16s of SİHAs around the world may be Turkish SİHAs… Of course, Küçük is not comparing the F-16 with the SİHA here. It only makes an evaluation on basic criteria such as usage, cost, benefit, prevalence.
Before we elaborate on this issue, we ask Researcher Küçük to briefly describe the Baltic countries’ appetite for Turkish SİHAs.
From the information given by Küçük, we learn that our country was not without experience in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles in the past. In fact, Ankara has an important background and infrastructure in UAVs. It is an experienced country in terms of the use of these systems other than production.
We have come to this point step by step
It is an issue that we all know, but did not dwell on, that our drone journey started in the 1990s. He opposes this situation Small and why the said infrastructure is important “Turkey is a country that has been using an important capability such as the use of UAVs for nearly 30 years. In addition, it has been continuing the experimental studies and development processes related to UAVs for more than 20 years. This is the most fundamental factor in creating unique combat concepts for UAVs. In other words, we have come to this point by ‘take your steps firmly’ in this field, not only in terms of production but also in terms of usage.”
Countries that feel the Russian threat are looking at the Turkish AUAV
It is no secret that there is an increasing demand for Turkish SİHAs in the Baltic region. There are capitals who have bought Turkish SİHA, those who have indicated their intention to buy it, and who throw the ball into the near future by saying, “Why not?” Fatih Mehmet Küçük likens this situation to a triple sheet foot.
The first of these pillars is the success of Turkish SİHAs in the field, in which the world gives these platforms their due. On the other hand, the cost-benefit advantage compared to its competitors is definitely one of the most important issues. The last link of the pillar, the undoubted success of Turkish SİHAs against Russian systems… Pointing out that all these have created a ‘natural leader’ in the area in question, Küçük uses the phrase, “He is looking at Turkish SİHAs who feel the Russian threat.”
Poland’s acquisition of a Turkish AUAV is a turning point
“We have to open a very small parenthesis on sales to Poland,” says Küçük. But before that, he gives a brief introduction and emphasizes that more than 36 trainings and exercises were carried out by NATO in the Baltic region in 2020. He also mentions that we should not forget that countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and the United States take measures against Russia by making flights in the airspaces of these countries.
Afterwards, the promise brings Ankara’s ability to sell Turkish SİHA to Warsaw and the view that “S/UAV exports to a country like Poland that can buy all kinds of weapon systems from the USA, including F-35 fighter jets, are much more remarkable and difficult than other countries”. expresses it.
Turkish AUAVs will work in harmony with F-35s
At this point, he reminds us of another detail that many of us overlook, Fatih Mehmet Küçük, and brings the word between the lines of the statement made by the Polish Defense Minister:
“The Polish Minister of Defense said that Bayraktar TB2s will work ‘together and harmoniously’ with systems such as F-35 warplanes and HIMARS artillery rockets supplied from the USA. This is one of the prominent points in the preference of systems produced by the Turkish defense industry. Compatibility and flexible use with NATO infrastructures… We do not know the details of the said compatibility. However, I see the transformation of this compatibility into integrated use as ‘the key to the future’.
What is meant by the F-16 analogy
At the beginning of our news, we mentioned that Fatih Mehmet Küçük has a different reading on the future of Turkish SİHAs over the F-16… Of course, let’s express this clearly here; This approach is certainly not made to compare a fighter plane with an SİHA.
We ask Küçük to explain more clearly the basic approach in the sentence “F-16s of SİHAs can be Turkish SİHAs”:
“I actually phrased it as a metaphor. The similarity I set out here was that the F-16 is the most common fighter aircraft in NATO with its very high cost effectiveness, high operational success, widespread use, continuous development and flexibility it offers to its users. F-16s, which have gained a wide range of users outside NATO, are one of the highest number of jet powered warplanes produced together with MiG-21 and F-4s.
Therefore, I used this phrase for reasons such as Bayraktar TB-2’s gaining a wide user scale, the increase in its suitors within NATO, its high efficiency with very affordable costs, its continuous development, and its ability to offer alternatives such as SATCOM.
Let me emphasize once again that this is not a technical discourse, but that I have established a relationship of similarity. It is very likely that different countries in NATO, after Poland, will also prefer Turkish SİHA in the future. Out of the Baltic region, one of the options is to be provided by prominent NATO countries. In any case, I believe that the reputation of Turkish S/UAVs will be carried to a very different point in particular with the Bayraktar TB-2.”
