Bayraktar busted: Pakistan's drone fiasco-How Indian radars exposed Turkish tech
Turkey's much-hyped Bayraktar TB2 drones, hailed as revolutionary weapons in conflicts from Ukraine to Libya, have suffered a devastating reputational blow after Pakistan's Turkish-origin drone fleet failed spectacularly during Operation Sindoor.
Indian forces, using indigenous Akashteer air defense systems, shot down every single Turkish-origin drone in the May conflict, leaving the Turkish defense industry scrambling to defend its once-prized exports.
Why it matters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long touted Turkish-made drones as a symbol of his 'Islamist vision' and a centerpiece of Turkey's defense ambitions. The drones were not only instruments of hard power but also a diplomatic tool for Turkish influence in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
But as India's Akashteer system intercepted Pakistani drones with 100% accuracy, Turkey's arms export ambitions took a direct hit.
Also read:
Turkish drones to Chinese missiles, India beat them all
This collapse of performance-described by a senior Indian officer as 'not a single drone achieving its objective'-has raised fresh doubts about Turkish drones' battlefield credibility and the broader promise of Turkey's defense industry.
The big picture
Pakistan's military imported hundreds of Turkish drones, hoping to overwhelm Indian air defenses and showcase Turkish technology as a regional power equalizer.
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Instead, the attack ended in humiliating defeat. Indian Air Defence officers confirmed that 300-400 Turkish drones, including Byker YIHA III kamikaze drones and Turkish-origin micro-drones like Songatri and eYatri, were neutralized in mid-air before they could even scratch Indian defenses.
A Pakistani source told Reuters that Turkish drones were meant to provide cover for manned aircraft and artillery strikes, but 'the drones failed to reach targets' as India's integrated air defenses, from legacy L70 guns to cutting-edge Akashteer radars, kicked in.
What they are saying
Michael Rubin, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, minced no words: 'Erdogan may offer a hard sale to promote his Islamist vision or simply to enrich his family, but the product he is selling is now subpar. Just as socialism stymies development as bureaucrats fail to adjust for competition, so too does nepotism ruin industries. Baykar, knowing it had full state support, simply stopped innovating effectively.
'
Pakistani officials have tried to downplay the losses, insisting they are re-evaluating drone deployment strategies. But the magnitude of the failure is hard to hide: Indian Air Defence sources say they recovered hundreds of drone parts along the border-clear evidence of Turkey's failure to deliver.
Zoom in
The real star of this clash? India's homegrown Akashteer system. Developed by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Akashteer integrates seamlessly with Indian Army and Air Force radars.
It automates threat detection, tracks targets, and assigns weapons in real time-a feature that proved decisive in the face of Pakistan's drone swarm.
'It didn't roar or flash - it listened, calculated and struck with precision,' an official told PTI. 'Every threat was intercepted, every target neutralised.'
This level of precision is no fluke. Indian officers compared Akashteer's performance to Israel's Iron Dome, noting that while Iron Dome specializes in missile defense, Akashteer has shown exceptional versatility against low-flying drones and loitering munitions.
Between the lines
For Turkey, the reputational hit goes beyond this one conflict. The Bayraktar TB2 had become the face of Turkish defense sales, with celebrated success stories in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and early phases of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. But cracks were already showing. Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky
noted last year that 'those or other drones can help, but do not affect the result,' as Russia's electronic warfare systems jammed Bayraktar drones.
The India-Pakistan clash has underscored these vulnerabilities, exposing Turkish drones as poorly adapted to modern electronic and radar-dense battlefields.
Historical echoes
This is not the first time that battlefield performance has shattered weapons myths. In 1982, Israeli Air Force F-15s and F-16s downed over 80 Soviet-built Syrian MiGs without losing a single plane-an outcome that punctured the myth of Soviet invincibility in Arab states.
Analysts say Turkey is facing a similar reckoning now.
'Any African despot or Central Asian country still purchasing Turkish hardware should recognize they risk wasting hundreds of millions of dollars,' Rubin warned.
What's at stake for Turkey
For President Erdogan and his son-in-law's company Baykar, the India-Pakistan conflict is more than just a marketing setback. It's a blow to Turkey's entire narrative of self-sufficiency and regional influence.
Analysts are already warning that countries in Africa and Central Asia that relied on Turkish drones may now look elsewhere. China and the US remain key players in the global drone market, and Turkey's stumble has opened the door for rivals to push their systems as more reliable and battle-proven.
What's next
As Pakistan rebuilds its airfields and grapples with the aftermath of this clash, Turkey's defense industry is facing questions that go well beyond the battlefield.
In Africa, Somali and Libyan leaders had turned to Turkish drones to prop up their regimes. In Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed used Bayraktar drones to devastating effect against Tigray forces. But after this fiasco, prospective buyers may pause-fearing that the Turkish drones they once saw as cost-effective alternatives to Western systems may be little more than paper tigers.
Meanwhile, India's success with Akashteer has emboldened its push for indigenous defense technology. Smit Shah of the Drone Federation India said that India plans to triple its drone investments in the next two years-leveraging the lessons of Operation Sindoor to build a robust domestic drone and counter-drone ecosystem.
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