A Turkish-made crowdfunded Bayraktar TB2 combat drone is seen during a presentation at the Lithuanian Air Force base in Siauliai, Lithuania, on July 6. (Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images)
The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone provided by Lithuania to Ukraine after a local crowdfunding campaign is expected to be sent to Kyiv in the coming hours.
“Vanagas” (meaning “Hawk” in Lithuanian), along with ammunition, arrived in the Baltic country on Monday, the country’s Defense Minister Arvydas Anushauskas tweeted. After a press briefing on Wednesday, Anushauskas added that the drone would soon be transferred to Ukraine.
“The last hours of Bayraktar “Vanagas” in Lithuania. It will be delivered to Ukraine very soon,” he tweeted.
The crowdfunding campaign was launched by Lithuanian online broadcaster Laisves TV last month and managed to secure around 6 million euros ($6.11 million) to purchase the drone.
The purchase was organized by Lithuania’s Ministry of Defense, but the manufacturer is said to have donated the drone for free after realizing it was purchased through a crowdfunding campaign.
“Citizens of Lithuania raised funds for this aircraft, but inspired by the idea, the Turkish company Baykar, manufacturer of Bayraktar, decided to donate it,” the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense said in a statement. “€1.5 million of the 5.9 million donated was allocated to arming the drone.”
This is not the first time that Baykar has donated some of its drones to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Last month, after a Ukrainian crowdfunding campaign secured enough funds to buy three of the drones, the company said it would donate them for free.
“We ask that the funds raised be transferred instead to the struggling people of Ukraine,” it said in a June 27 statement.
The Bayraktar TB2 drone has played a key role in defending Ukraine against Russia. The country had about 20 of the drones before the war began on February 24, but Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on June 28 that his service had managed to secure up to 50 drones since the invasion began.
“In the near future, almost the entire capacity of the Baykar Makina plant will be directed to meeting the needs of the armed forces. We are talking about ordering dozens more drones,” Reznikov added.
Add Comment