On October 28, 2022, Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak at the 12th base of unmanned aerial vehicles of the Polish Air Force in Miroslavets took part in the ceremony of handing over to the Polish Army the first of the ordered unmanned aviation complex with six Bayraktar TB2 reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Teknoloji. The first six UAVs received by the Polish Air Force have tail numbers from "2801" to "2806".
The ceremony of handing over to the Polish Army the first unmanned aviation complex ordered by Poland with six Bayraktar TB2 reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Teknoloji. Miroslavets (Poland), 28.10.2022 (c) Ministry of National Defense of PolandOn May 24, 2021, the Polish Ministry of National Defense signed a contract worth about $ 270 million with Baykar Teknoloji for the purchase of four Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial systems.
Each complex includes three ground mobile control stations, three relay stations and six Bayraktar TB2 unmanned vehicles - that is, a total of 24 UAVs have been ordered. Delivery should be made according to the schedule: the first complex by October 31, 2022, two - in April and October 2023 and the fourth - in April 2024. The contract was signed by the Polish side without conducting tender procedures, as part of the so-called urgent need. [...]
The contract also includes the training of 192 Polish servicemen (including instructors) and the supply of laser-guided ammunition Roketsan MAM-L and MAM-C, two simulators, spare parts and the provision of a logistics package and a 24-month warranty, as well as technology transfer, providing, among other things, the possibility of maintenance and repair in Poland of engines, ground control stations and electronic-optical systems of the Bayraktar TB2 UAV. To equip these UAVs, Poland is supplied with 24 L3 Harris Wescam MX-15 electron-optical systems and six sets of synthetic aperture side-view radar.
The first group of Polish servicemen and instructors completed training on UAV data at the Baykar Teknoloji training center in Turkey in mid-September 2022.
At the ceremony in Miroslavets, Mariusz Blaszczak stated: "There is no modern army without drones. Armed drones. In the case of Bayraktar, these are drones that, on the one hand, perform reconnaissance tasks, and on the other hand, will be ready to perform strike tasks. This is an important stage in the process of modernizing the Polish Army, equipping the Polish Army with modern equipment. We are starting the process of equipping military units of the Bayraktar UAV. We ordered these drones before Russia invaded Ukraine. We were told then, especially from the opposition, the one from the Civic Platform, that this was a weapon that would not be of any use to us. What is happening in Ukraine shows that they were wrong. We were right that this is an effective weapon. This weapon in the hands of Ukrainians makes it possible to effectively defend the territory of Ukraine."
The ceremony of handing over to the Polish Army the first unmanned aviation complex ordered by Poland with six Bayraktar TB2 reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Teknoloji. Miroslavets (Poland), 28.10.2022 (c) Ministry of National Defense of PolandVideo:
