Bangladesh to Order Bayraktar TB2 Combat Drones

Bangladesh has reportedly expressed interest to acquire Bayraktar TB2 combat drones manufactured in Turkey, after their success in several recent wars such as Syria, Libya, Karabakh and Ukraine.

The Bangladeshi government signed an agreement with drone maker Baykar to purchase Bayraktar TB2s, local newspaper Prothom Alo cited Turkey’s Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Tufan as saying.

“I'm not in a position to give details, but I can confirm that there is cooperation between Bangladesh and Turkey regarding drones," Tufan said.

Mosud Mannan, Bangladeshi envoy in Turkey told Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu Agency (AA) last year that Dhaka was seeking the drones.

The South Asian country has previously purchased mine protection vehicles, multi-dimensional rocket defense systems and armored vehicles from Turkey as part of a bilateral defense cooperation deal.

The TB2 has a 12m wingspan and can soar to 25,000ft before swooping in to destroy tanks and artillery with laser-guided armor-piercing bombs.

Selçuk Bayraktar, who runs the Istanbul firm Baykar, said the company can produce 200 TB2 drones a year.