Poland to acquire 24 Turkish-made combat drones
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey and Poland have signed a deal for the sale of Turkish-made combat drones, making Poland the first NATO and European Union member country to purchase Turkey´s Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday.
The agreement was signed during Polish President Andrzej Duda´s three-day visit to Turkey.
Under the deal, Poland is set to receive 24 armed drones, ground control stations and data terminals, Turkey´s state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The first drone is expected to be delivered next year.
"We are one of the best countries regarding unmanned aerial vehicles," Erdogan said during a joint news conference. "We feel great pleasure in sharing our experience, capability and potential with our NATO ally, Poland."
Erdogan said: "With the document that was just signed, Turkey will, for the first time in its history, be exporting UAVs to a country that is a member of NATO and the EU."
Turkey previously sold drones to Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Qatar.
The Bayraktar TB2 drones played a prominent role in Azerbaijan´s victory over Armenia during the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh last year. Turkey is known to have used the drones in its cross-border operations against Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq.
