Croatia to purchase six Bayraktar TB2 drones in $95 million deal
Several customers are set to operate the platform including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania. (Photo: Baykar)
The drones will be used to cover radio coverage in Croatia in both stationary and mobile configurations, according to Croatia’s Minister of Defence, and will be equipped with an initial set of weapons.
Croatia’s government has approved the purchase of Bayraktar TB2 drones, Croatia’s Defence Ministry officials have said. The overall package for these six drones, which reportedly also includes training in Turkey, is said to amount to US$95 million.
Ivan Anušić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence said that Croatia’s Armed Forced “expressed the need for priority and urgent procurement of the armed Bayraktar TB2 system, and the company submitted an informative offer and a proposal for the Bayraktar TB2 configuration based on the 'total package' model”.
According to Anušić, the deal for the TB2 “is based on six aircraft equipped with electro-optical cameras for reconnaissance, including the initial set of weapons, and ensures double radio coverage of the entire territory of Croatia in stationary and mobile version”.
The package is also said to include a command-and-control centre, training simulator, ground monitoring and control stations, as well as a set of spares sufficient for 4,000 flight hours. This includes all necessary equipment and maintenance tools, a warranty in duration of two years or until reaching 4,000 flight hours, stay of experts in Croatia for a period of two years, training in Turkey and transport of the entire package to Croatia.
The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV developed by Turkish firm Baykar. According to the company, it can carry out ISR and armed attack missions, and has a payload capacity of 150kg.
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