Ukraine explains why TB2 UAV lost ground after once "making waves"

TB2 UAV manufactured in Türkiye (Photo: Getty).

While it is clear that TB2s are still in use, the frequency of deployment and the role of these UAVs have changed, Valiush said.

"We acknowledge the contribution of TB2, but at the time when the fighting broke out, they were deployed more and attacked more (than now)," he said.

Last month, Mr. Valiush admitted at a military conference in the Czech Republic: "With TB2, I don't want to use the word useless, but it is difficult to find situations where Ukraine could use this UAV."

Although UAVs are still effective in Ukraine's overall combat tactics, it is clear that TB2 has lost its effectiveness as it did at the beginning of the conflict. At that time, many experts considered TB2 a "game-changer" weapon, causing a lot of damage to Russian weapons and equipment.

Ukraine still uses UAVs in combat, but they often deploy cheap UAVs from a few thousand dollars for suicide attacks or to cause no major damage if intercepted.

Putting the multi-million dollar TB2 on the front line puts the weapon at risk and makes it less effective, as it can only operate for a few dozen minutes.

Previously, Forbes commented that Ukraine no longer has an advantage in UAVs compared to Russia and the period when UAVs had better drone capabilities than Russia is over.

Ukrainian UAV operator Nikolai Voroshnov admitted that Kiev is quite behind Russia when it comes to UAV combat capabilities. He specifically mentioned Russia’s effective jamming capabilities.

“Six months ago, this was not the case: we could fly wherever we wanted. Now, if you fly at low altitude, the Russian UAV defense system will definitely work,” Voroshnov admitted.

In addition, Forbes commented, the Russian army has purchased FPV first-person view UAVs in large numbers and trained soldiers to operate them.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is still largely dependent on public donations to buy UAVs and volunteers to operate them.

In addition, Russia has in recent months used a new tactic, combining large numbers of swarm-style attack UAVs with FAB and UPAB smart bombs using satellite navigation systems.

First, Russia will use Orlan, Zala or Supercam UAVs to reconnoiter Ukraine's positions. The information will be transmitted to the control area and Russia will launch "swarms" of Lancet UAVs with smart glide bombs at Kiev's positions.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/ukraine-neu-ly-do-uav-tb2-that-the-sau-khi-tung-lam-mua-lam-gio-20231102092720707.htm