Burkina Faso’s newly acquired Akinci long-range combat drone have been seen in public for the first time.
The two new Akinci drones are part of a larger haul which includes five Bayraktar TB2s as well as an assorted guided and unguided munitions.
The Akinci are likely to have been delivered to the military of Burkina Faso earlier this year, while Five Bayraktar TB2 drones were delivered between April and May 2022.
This new delivery highlights the growing reliance on Turkish-made military products, and also signifying that Africa is a new market for Turkish defence firms, and defence and aerospace exports to the continent are rising, from $83 million in 2020 to $288 million in 2021.
Bayraktar Akıncı (meaning Raider in Turkey) is a high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) manufactured by the Turkish defence company Baykar. The drone has a 5.5+ ton maximum takeoff weight (MTOW), of which over 1,350 kg (2,980 lb) is payload. Akıncı is equipped with two turboprop engines of either 450 hp (460 PS; 340 kW) or 750 hp (760 PS; 560 kW), as well as electronic support and ECM systems, dual satellite communication systems, air-to-air radar, collision avoidance radar, and advanced synthetic-aperture radar.
The Akinci UCAV was seen fitted with MAM-L and MAM-T munitions. However, ROKETSAN’s TEBER GPS and Laser-guided general purpose bombs, and TÜBİTAK SAGE’s HGK GPS guidance kits were presented alongside the UCAV, indicating that Burkina Faso has acquired heavier munitions for AKINCI UCAV as well.
The Akinci were inspected by Burkinabe Interim Leader Ibrahim Traore, who came to power with a coup on September 30, 2022. Traore is known for his heavy opposition to French policies and represents an example of France’s declining influence in African countries.
Since 2016, it has faced a growing threat from rival Islamist terror groups affiliated with the Islamic State group and with al-Qaeda, resulting in 10,000 casualties, and the displacement of some two million people.
Burkina Faso is facing a growing threat from Islamist militants who have been launching attacks from neighboring Mali and Niger. The country has been struggling to contain the violence, which has killed thousands of people and displaced more than a million.
The Akinci drone will likely be employed against terrorist and insurgent targets, including groups of terrorists travelling on motor cycles.
Although, in a recent incident, a Bayraktar TB2 drone belonging to the Burkinabe Air Force crashed approximately 140 kilometers southeast of the capital city, near Tenkodogo.
Burkina Faso hopes that the drones will help it gain an edge over the Islamist militants who have been wreaking havoc in the region.
The Akinci is steadily witnessing export success. So far, among the nine customers of AKINCI UCAV, three are from Africa, and they are Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Libya (not confirmed).