A Monument Of Victory: The Bayraktar TB2 Kill List

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans, Jakub Janovsky, Dan, and COIN

Bin atlı o gün dev gibi bir orduyu yendik! - A thousand cavaliers, we beat a giant army that day! (Akıncılar, by Yahya Kemal Beyatlı)

The Bayraktar TB2 has changed the notion of how modern-day conflicts are being fought that, now that it has been tried and tested in at least three separate conflicts, cannot be reverted. The fact that a relatively light and inexpensive drone could not only evade but actively search out and destroy modern surface-to-air missile (SAM) and electronic warfare (EW) systems while suffering little losses in return has rightfully garnered worldwide attention. The result of the TB2's entry into combat was a stunning upset of the status quo, forcing many countries to rethink their approach to defence.

Some observers have attempted to downplay the TB2's extraordinary effectivity by disparaging the Armenian military, whose equipment had supposedly been lacking. However, past engagements over Syria, Libya as well as the one in Nagorno-Karabakh demonstrated an ability to take on many of the integrated air defence systems (IADS) modern nations might muster, having successfully combatted systems such as the Buk-M2, Tor-M2, S-300PS and Pantsir-S1 even when used in conjunction with electronic warfare systems like the Avtobaza-M, Repellent-1 and Groza-S. The TB2's performance in the face of these systems, designed to completely deny the airforces of even the most advanced nations the ability to function marked a watershed moment in the history of modern warfare.

For Turkey, its highly efficient use of the Bayraktar TB2 has boosted its growing foreign policy assertiveness to shape a new foreign policy: Bayraktar Diplomacy. This essentially constitutes a new type of warfare that is uniquely well-suited to the characteristics of modern-day conflicts. Based around small-footprint interventions that seek to maximise both political and military impact at low financial and humanitarian cost, Bayraktar Diplomacy is so effective that it can be said to have decided the fate of nations: without the TB2 the internationally-recognized government of Libya could well have been wiped out and Nagorno-Karabakh would likely still be under Armenian control.

A detailed list of 884 targets confirmed to have been destroyed by Bayraktar TB2s over Syria, Libya, Iraq, Nagorno-Karabakh, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Tigray and Burkina Faso can be viewed below. This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. In some cases this solely consists of footage that was recorded on the ground. In these cases, the use of an armed drone was reported by witnesses on the ground. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Hits on personnel, civilian cars used by YPG and PKK leaders, munition caches, military structures and strategic targets (such as fuel depots struck in Russia) are not included in this list. The list will be updated as additional footage becomes available.

(Click on the numbers to get a picture of each individual captured or destroyed vehicle)

Tanks (134)

88 T-72s: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31) (32) (33) (34) (35) (36) (37) (38) (39) (40) (41) (42) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54) (55) (56) (57) (58) (59) (60) (61) (62) (63) (64) (65) (66) (67) (68) (69) (70) (71) (72) (73) (74) (75) (76) (77) (78) (79) (80) (81) (82) (83) (84) (85) (86) (87) (88)
3 T-72B3s: (1) (2) (3)
1 Unknown T-72: (1)
1 Unknown T-72/80: (1)
12 T-72s: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12)
5 T-62s: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
5 T-55s: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
9 Unknown T-55/62s: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7 and 8) (9)
4 T-72s: (1) (2) (3) (4)
5 T-55s: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
1 T-55: (1)

Armoured Fighting Vehicles (55)

8 BMP-1 IFVs: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
6 BMP-2 IFVs: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
13 MT-LB AFVs (with AA gun): (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)
1 BRDM-2 reconnaissance vehicle: (1)
3 9P148 Konkurs ATGM carriers: (1) (2) (3)
1 BTS-4 ARVs: (1)
2 Unknown AFVs: (1) (2)
3 BMD-2 IFVs: (1) (2) (3)
1 R-149MA1 command and staff vehicle: (1)
3 Unknown AFVs: (1) (2) (3)
9 BMP-1 IFVs: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
1 Type-89A APC: (1)
1 BMP-1 IFV: (1)
1 HMMWV IMV: (1)
1 Al-Mared APC: (1)
1 MSPV Panthera T6 IMV: (1)

Towed Artillery (155)

2 85mm D-44 divisional guns: (1) (2)
7 100mm KS-19 AA guns used as howitzers: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
1 120mm M75 mortar: (1)
1 122mm M-30 howitzer: (1)
62 122mm D-30 howitzers: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31) (32) (33) (34) (35) (36) (37) (38) (39) (40) (41) (42) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54) (55) (56) (57) (58) (59) (60) (61) (62)
9 152mm D-1 gun-howitzers: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
54 152mm D-20 gun-howitzers: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31) (32) (33) (34) (35) (36) (37) (38) (39) (40) (41) (42) (43 and 44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54)
12 152mm 2A36 Giatsint-B field-guns: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12)
1 Unknown mortar: (1)
1 120mm 2B11/2S12A heavy mortar: (1)
5 152mm 2A65 Msta-B howitzers: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
1 122mm D-30 howitzer: (1)
1 152mm D-1 gun-howitzer: (1)
1 240mm M240 mortar: (1)
1 122mm D-30 howitzer: (1)

Self-Propelled Artillery (43)

17 122mm 2S1 Gvozdikas: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17)
16 122mm 2S1 Gvozdikas: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16)
3 130mm M-46 field guns on Mercedes truck: (1) (2) (3)
6 152mm 2S3 Akatsiyas: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
1 152mm 2S3(M) Akatsiya: (1)

Multiple Rocket Launchers (91)

56 122mm BM-21s ''Grad'': (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31) (32) (33) (34) (35) (36) (37) (38) (39) (40) (41) (42) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51 and 52) (53) (54) (55) (56)
1 220mm TOS-1: (1)
3 300mm BM-30s ''Smerch'': (1) (2) (3)
1 Unknown MRL: (1)
8 122mm BM-21s ''Grad'': (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
1 122mm HM-20: (1)
2 122mm MRL on Toyota: (1) (2)
6 122mm BM-21s ''Grad'': (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
1 122mm 2B17 Tornado-G: (1)
1 220mm BM-27 Uragan: (1)
1 122mm 9P138 ''Grad-1'': (1)

Anti-Aircraft Guns (10)

2 23mm ZU-23s: (1) (2)
7 23mm ZU-23s on Truck: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
1 37mm 61-K M-1939 on Truck: (1)

Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Guns (9)

1 23mm ZSU-23-4: (1)
4 23mm ZSU-23-4s: (1) (2) (3) (4)
2 MT-LBs with ZU-23 AA gun: (1) (2)
2 23mm ZU-23s on Toyota: (1) (2)

Surface-To-Air Missile Systems (48)

1 2K11 Krug ''SA-4'': (1)
16 9K33 Osas ''SA-8'': (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16)
3 9K35 Strela-10s ''SA-13'': (1) (2) (3)
1 S-300PS' ''SA-10'': (1)
1 9K35 Strela-10 ''SA-13'': (1)
4 Tor-M1s ''SA-15'': (1) (2) (3 and 4)
2 Tor-M2s ''SA-15'': (1) (2)
2 Buk-M1-2s ''SA-11'': (1) (2)
5 Buk-M2s ''SA-17'': (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
1 Pantsir-S1 ''SA-22'': (1)
2 Pantsir-S1s ''SA-22'': (1) (2)
2 2K12 Kubs ''SA-6'': (1) (2)
7 Pantsir-S1s ''SA-22'': (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
1 Pantsir-S1 ''SA-22'': (1)
1 Pantsir-S1 ''SA-22'': (1)