ANKARA, Turkey — Despite three weeks of Russian bombardment, Ukraine has kept up a stiff defense of its cities by using Turkish-made drones to carry out pop-up attacks on the invaders with a lethal effectiveness that has surprised Western military experts.
The Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles, which carry lightweight, laser-guided bombs, normally excel in low-tech conflicts, and Turkey has sold them to more than a dozen countries, including Azerbaijan, Libya, Morocco and Ethiopia.
The drones have carried out unexpectedly successful attacks in the early stages of Ukraine's conflict with Moscow, before the Russians were able to set up their air defenses in the battlefield, said Jack Watling of the London-based Royal United Services Institute.
“The (TB2s) shouldn't be making a meaningful impact because they are medium altitude, slow-flying aircraft with a large electromagnetic signature and a large radar cross-section. And the Russians have very capable air defense systems, so they should be being shot down. The terrain is very open and gives good radar coverage,” Watling added.
He said Ukrainian forces “have been essentially flying in at a low-level and then coming up and raiding with them. So striking targets of opportunity.”
Over time, as the Russians get more organized and push out their air defenses, Watling said “the freedom to employ those drones is diminishing. And so what we are now seeing is that the…
