For The First Time, PAF Shows Turkish Bayraktar TB2 Drone

The Pakistan Air Force unveiled its Bayraktar TB2 drone for the first time after its acquisition during the exercise on Wednesday. 

The Turkish flagship drone, Bayraktar TB2 has been delivered to Islamabad but either Pakistan or Turkey has not disclosed the number of drones. Pakistan also declined to say how many of those provided were capable of fighting operationally.

However, it is well known that Islamabad bought Turkish drones in the middle of this year. At least one Bayraktar TB2 was visible in satellite pictures of PAF Base Murid.

The exercise was carried out under Pakistani Army Captain Zahir Ahmed Baber Sidhu. 

He was present at the location where the Turkish drones are controlled from the ground. The senior Pakistani official claimed that drones play a crucial function in securing security and for Pakistan, Bayraktar TB2 will play the role of force multipliers.

Officials said that the exercise was conducted to assess the compatibility of the unmanned aerial vehicles with the Pakistan Air Force and their integration into the operational structure of the PAF.

Over the past two years, Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 drone has been significantly successful in the defence sector. The main cause of this was the shortage of Russian weaponry in the market due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

As of now, 16 nations using this drone, two nations are finalising a contract and 16 nations are debating whether or not to buy the Bayraktar TB2 in the future including Romania and Bulgaria as well as the entirety of the Balkans, Finland, the Baltic states and Great Britain too.