Maldives Buys Bayraktar TB2 Drones For Its Air Corps
At a ceremony held in Maafaru International Airport the President of Maldives inaugurated maritime surveillance with Bayraktar TB2 drones bought from Turkey. The Maldives is a tiny island nation in the Indian Ocean that has about half a million in its population. Despite being one of the world’s smallest countries it has a huge marine border that exceeds 900,000 square kilometres. The country has Coat Guard vessel that do patrols randomly but it was not enough to secure its vast sea boundary. The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is particularly important for Maldives fisheries while it is one of the world’s business sea routes for container ships and oil tankers. This makes security particularly important for countries in the region as well as other continents.
Maldives acquired 3 drones of TB2 model from Baykar. It has been about a decade after Turkey initially produced the drone. But, the popularity emerged after its game-winning role in Azerbaijan-Armenia war. The Bayraktar TB2 was remarkable for huge losses it made to Armenian military which eventually lead to winning by the Azerbaijan. After the victory many Arab countries acquired TB2 drones from Turkey and it has finally made to the Maldives.
The role of military drones in the Maldives is for protecting its maritime zone. However, the Maldives National Difference Force did not reveal more details about the munitions. The ground control station is located in Maafaru International Airport from where the entire norther area can be monitored. The specifications indicate maximum rage as 300 km. This means the drones can reach areas near the capital Male’ and Velana International Airport as well.
The MNDF did not reveal how many ground control stations were build. It is unknown if there are multiple stations to control the drones and transfer control from one station to another in order to maximize range and cover entire maritime zone or if the drones have that capability. Specifications indicate it has a payload capacity of 150 kilograms while photos show 2 bombs can be attached under each wing. Precision bombs may be useful against increased private activities in the Indian Ocean. But, the military did not reveal any detail of munitions so far.
According to Maldives Finest, during the inauguration President Dr. Muizzu indicate its use for search and rescue operations. Since the TB2 drones can operate day and night this would be particularly useful for the Maldives. How effective it would be, is a different question that needs answers in due course. Even though the TB2 drone is battle-tested in war it is yet to prove its capability in search missions. Almost every year Maldives face cases of missing fishing boats and lost people at sea. Is the drone capable of automatically identify fishing boats, floating objects and human beings without any human monitoring? If there is such capability this could be an invaluable asset to the Maldives. If that does not currently exist in flight computer it could modify the software with Artificial Intelligence to do just that? Again, performance of the Bayraktar drone needs time for its tests in search missions.
Maldives is home to world’s largest seaplane operation. Introduction of drones along with Air Ambulance and medical transport drones would make skies more congested. Medical transport drones are planned to be used for transporting vital drugs to islands, it is like that to be rare occurances. The surveillance drones may operate mostly in sea areas, far away from islands, this would be more than enough space for seaplanes and domestic flights. International traffic currently flows to VRDA airport in Maafaru and VRMM Velana airport in Hulhule island.