Bayraktar TB2 S5 retired: Türkiye bids farewell to first drone of its type after 10,000 flight hours

For the first time, a Bayraktar TB2 has successfully completed its service life: the aircraft with tail number S5 ends its active service after 10,000 flight hours. The drone entered the inventory of the Turkish Land Forces Command in 2014 after successfully passing its acceptance tests. It has now left the fleet of the Turkish Armed Forces in a ceremony.

Its record stands at 750 missions – including sorties during “Trench Operations”, “Euphrates Shield”, “Olive Branch”, “Peace Spring”, “Spring Shield” and the still ongoing Operation “Claw”.

Although the S5 is leaving active military service, as manufacturer Baykar announced in a recent press release, it is to continue flying within the company as a research platform for training and test flights. To replace the retired system, the Land Forces Command received a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the same type.

A ceremonial farewell to the Bayraktar TB2

The farewell ceremony took place at the Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center in Istanbul. Guests included General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu (Commander of the Land Forces), General Metin Tokel (Commander of the 1st Army), Major General Zeynel Abidin Erginbaş (Commander of the Army Aviation Command) and Brigadier General Sertaç Öztürk (Commander of the UAV Brigade). Baykar was represented by Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar, CEO Haluk Bayraktar and numerous employees.

The speakers emphasised that the system has now logged more than 900,000 flight hours. It is in service worldwide, including in six NATO and four EU countries; the local value-added share of production is 93 percent. This makes the TB2 the longest-serving national aircraft in Turkish aviation history – if one chooses to call it that.

Indispensable in civil operations too

Beyond security tasks, the national UAVs also play an important civil role: after disasters such as earthquakes and floods, in search and rescue, in monitoring irregular migration and in firefighting. According to Baykar, TB2 drones were deployed after the earthquake in early 2020, for example. At that time, 42 Bayraktar TB2s flew a combined 2,417 hours and 6 minutes; eight of them carried Baykar Rapid Mapping Pods.

Between 2020 and 2023, Bayraktar TB2 UAVs also helped detect 3,166 forest fires at an early stage, preventing worse damage.

In service worldwide

Within Türkiye, TB2 drones currently fly not only for the Turkish Armed Forces. The National Intelligence Organisation, the General Command of the Gendarmerie, the General Directorate of Security, the Coast Guard Command and the General Directorate of Forestry – the latter for firefighting – also operate them.

Baykar is regarded as the world's largest UAV exporter. For the Bayraktar TB2 UAV, the manufacturer has concluded export agreements with 33 countries, and for the Bayraktar Akinci UAV with ten countries – 34 countries in total. Baykar earned around 1.7 billion euros from exports in 2023 alone, placing it among Türkiye's top 10 exporters.