3 Bayraktar TB2 drones, the flagship of Turkey's defence industry, have been delivered to Albania, Albania's defence minister said, as part of a programme to "modernise" the country's armed forces, AFP reported.
"The drones were assembled in two days. At the same time, we are working on installing the maintenance and control infrastructures," Minister Niko Pelesi wrote on Facebook, also posting photos of the TB2 at the Kuchova military base.
The base, located 80 km south of Tirana, has been renovated over the past two years with funds from NATO, of which Albania has been a member since 2009, and will be inaugurated on March 4 with an official ceremony.
According to Pelesi, it will be a "NATO tactical air base".
The purchase of these drones, which will "reinforce" the country's "defence capabilities", is a "symbol" of Albania's commitment "to modernise its armed forces", the minister added.
In December 2022, the minister said. Albania signed a contract with the Turkish company Baykar to purchase three drones, which Albanian authorities said are "only the first part of a fleet that is expected to grow."
The contract also provides for maintenance of the machines and training of more than 30 people.
The TB2 model of drones made by the private Turkish company Baykar has proven itself in Libya and Azerbaijan, and then in Ukraine, where TB2s were used by Ukrainian forces from the first hours of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
According to the manufacturer's website, these 6.5-metre-long machines, which are half the weight of the US competitor Reaper, are capable of flying for up to 27 hours at speeds in excess of 220 km/h. They can carry "four intelligent laser-guided munitions." / BGNES
