According to the Turkish magazine "Türk Havacılık Haberleri ve Diğer Canavarlar", published by the Turkish Association of aviation industry (Türk Havacılık Sanayicileri Derneği), the Russian company OOO "New unmanned systems" from Nizhny Novgorod in 2020 has concluded an agreement with the Turkish company Baykar Defense (whodata of the group Baykar) on the organization of joint production of the well-known Turkish reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles Bayraktar TB2 for their promotion on the Russian market.
Assembly of Turkish reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles Bayraktar TB2 at the Baykar Defense enterprise in Istanbul (c) Baykar Defense
The publication reports that LLC "New Unmanned Systems" is a new and yet unknown player in the Russian defense market, but unofficial sources of the publication connect this company with the structures of "one of the Russian oligarchs close to Putin." It is assumed that on the part of the Russian initiators of the transaction, an attempt is being made to offer the Bayraktar TB2 UAV to the Russian Ministry of Defense or other Russian law enforcement agencies as an alternative to the very slow - moving Russian UAV projects of this class-as you can understand, we are referring primarily to the long-built Korsar UAV developed by the Yaroslavl JSC KB Luch. Allegedly, the project already has the support of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
It is reported that the agreement was signed in the summer of 2020, that is, before the high-profile success of the Bayraktar TB2 UAV in the Second Karabakh War. At the same time, the requirement of the Russian partner is to equip the unmanned systems assembled in Russia with "affordable" systems (mainly Russian and Chinese production), since many of the standard Bayraktar TB2 systems are of Western origin and are not available in Russia due to sanctions. In this regard, it is reported that in the version of the UAV for the Russian side, conventionally designated on Baykar Defense as Bayraktar TB2-R, in particular, an electron-optical station manufactured by the Chinese company Chongqing Yuanqian Electro-Optical Science And Technology Co., Ltd., as well as a Russian-made navigation module using GLONASS equipment, is used. The UAV retains the Rotax 912 engine, widely available in the commercial market. The ground control station of the complex is being finalized with the participation of the Belarusian JSC "AGAT-Control Systems" with extensive use of Belarusian components. The assembly of the vehicles and control stations is supposed to be conducted in Nizhny Novgorod, initially the kits for the assembly of the airframe should be supplied by Baykar Defense, the ground vehicles will be carried out on the KamAZ chassis. The issue of armament is unclear, although the Russian partner declares plans to use Russian-made combat systems, including ammunition, developed on an initiative basis by Aviaautomatika Design Bureau LLC (Kursk).
According to the publication, in 2021, it was planned to begin flight tests of the Bayraktar TB2-R prototype, which is currently being manufactured in Turkey. At the same time, it is indicated that the management of Baykar Defense is forced to show a certain "diplomatic dexterity", since at the same time the company is fulfilling a large order for Bayraktar TB2 complexes for Ukraine.
