Turkey Demonstrates the New Era of Integrated Drone Warfare

Turkey, Azerbaijan’s major ally in the war, has gained extensive experience in integrated drone operations in recent fighting in Syria (February-March 2020) and Libya (May-June 2020). Two of Turkey’s drone systems have been prominent, the Anka-S and the Bayraktar. Turkey’s drone war over Syria was managed from the Turkish Second Army Command Tactical Command Center, which is located approximately 400km away in the Turkish city of Malatya, Hatay Province. Turkey’s electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) warfare capability helped jam Russian and Syrian defense radars and even monitor cell phone chatter to identify targets.

Other world powers are following suit. China has reportedly tested a system that deploys up to 200 “suicide drones” designed to saturate a battlespace and destroy targets. Last September, the Russian military integrated drone-swarm capabilities in a large-scale military exercise. For its part, the US Army is currently working on the Armed, Fully-Autonomous Drone Swarm (AFADS). AFADS will autonomously locate, identify, and attack targets using what is known as a Cluster Unmanned Airborne System Smart Munition that will dispense a swarm of small drones that fan out, locate and destroy targets. This update was adapted from a report by Scott Ritter at Lewrockwell.com, where details can be found. See also Militaryfactory.com and this Turkish news report. Photos show the ANKA UAV with the V-tail, courtesy of Wikipedia, and the Bayraktar with the inverted twin boom V-tail, and its control room. Photos courtesy of Militaryfactory.com, Wikipedia and Turkish websites.