Caution tempers Japanese interest in shipborne TB3
JMSDF helicopter carrier Izumo. (Photo: JMSDF)
Baykar Defense aims to sell its TB3 strike UAV to Japan — but there are obstacles in its path.
Amid competition with Chinese manufacturers in the international market for strike UAVs, Turkish manufacturer Baykar Defense seized an opportunity in March to pitch the Bayraktar TB3 UCAV to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
In a media interview with Nikkei Asia, Baykar CTO Selçuk Bayraktar emphasised the foldable wings on the TB3, which he said would enable the JMSDF to pack several of the aircraft aboard its Izumo-class helicopter carriers.
Bayraktar urged Japan to ‘obtain armed drones as soon as possible’, and he claimed that the TB3 and larger TB2 would be ‘a better option’ for other
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