WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.968 --> 00:00:03.551 [upbeat music] 2 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.560 The renewed war between Azerbaijan and Armenia 3 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:16.080 over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, 4 00:00:16.080 --> 00:00:16.980 has captured the attention 5 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:19.750 of military strategists worldwide, including here in the US, 6 00:00:19.750 --> 00:00:21.220 because the degree to which drones 7 00:00:21.220 --> 00:00:22.480 have changed the battlefield. 8 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:23.990 While the wide open rugged terrain 9 00:00:23.990 --> 00:00:25.080 of the region has played a role, 10 00:00:25.080 --> 00:00:27.330 Turkish and Israeli built remotely piloted vehicles 11 00:00:27.330 --> 00:00:29.470 have dominated the battlefield causing a lot of thinking 12 00:00:29.470 --> 00:00:31.120 about battle tactics and about 13 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:32.910 the value of tanks in 21st century. 14 00:00:32.910 --> 00:00:35.210 Azerbaijan has been using a number of weapon systems 15 00:00:35.210 --> 00:00:36.620 from both Turkey and Israel, 16 00:00:36.620 --> 00:00:38.310 including the Israeli Harop seen 17 00:00:38.310 --> 00:00:41.720 in this Azerbaijani pop music video and the Orbiter 1K 18 00:00:41.720 --> 00:00:44.670 both loitering munitions or drones that carry warheads 19 00:00:44.670 --> 00:00:46.100 and crash into their targets. 20 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:49.220 But the star of many of Azerbaijan's drone snuff films 21 00:00:49.220 --> 00:00:52.840 is Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat air vehicle. 22 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:55.680 Turkey's counterpart to the US General Dynamics Reaper. 23 00:00:55.680 --> 00:00:58.080 TB2 carries the UMTAS anti tank missile, 24 00:00:58.080 --> 00:01:00.140 a Turkish equivalent to the Hellfire, as well as 25 00:01:00.140 --> 00:01:02.860 laser guided missiles, rockets and many smart bombs, and 26 00:01:02.860 --> 00:01:05.220 it can be used to designate targets for Turkish aircrafts. 27 00:01:05.220 --> 00:01:07.670 TB2 has been deployed repeatedly in Libya and Syria. 28 00:01:07.670 --> 00:01:10.090 Foiling Russian backed groups ambitions in both places 29 00:01:10.090 --> 00:01:13.170 and Turkey has sold TB2 to to Qatar and Ukraine. 30 00:01:13.170 --> 00:01:14.450 As well as Azerbaijan. 31 00:01:14.450 --> 00:01:16.540 The drones have been the primary cause of heavy losses 32 00:01:16.540 --> 00:01:18.930 to the Armenian side including nearly 70 tanks, 33 00:01:18.930 --> 00:01:22.120 24 armored personnel carriers, 17 air defense systems 34 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:23.880 and a total of at least 50 artillery 35 00:01:23.880 --> 00:01:25.170 and multiple rocket launchers, 36 00:01:25.170 --> 00:01:28.290 and over 72 trucks, based on data tabulated by the 37 00:01:28.290 --> 00:01:30.930 threat intelligence consulting firm, Treadstone 71. 38 00:01:30.930 --> 00:01:34.260 The TB2 is a result of the US Congress banning sales 39 00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:37.010 of US combat drones to Turkey in a bit of unanticipated 40 00:01:37.010 --> 00:01:38.120 technology transfer. 41 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:41.640 Selçuk Bayraktar founder and CTO of his namesake company, 42 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:43.380 worked on drone communications technology 43 00:01:43.380 --> 00:01:46.350 while a grad student at Penn, MIT and Georgia Tech, 44 00:01:46.350 --> 00:01:47.920 and brought what he learned back to Turkey 45 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:49.960 to develop drones for the Turkish security forces. 46 00:01:49.960 --> 00:01:53.050 The TB2 also borrowed a recreational aircraft engine from 47 00:01:53.050 --> 00:01:55.710 Canadian aerospace firm Bombardier and infrared 48 00:01:55.710 --> 00:01:58.730 electro optical sensors from Canada's L3 WESCAM. 49 00:01:58.730 --> 00:02:01.200 It's that sensor that enables the TV to designate targets 50 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:03.180 for both its own laser guided weapons and 51 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:05.160 from other aircraft including possibly 52 00:02:05.160 --> 00:02:06.930 the Turkish F-16 fighters 53 00:02:06.930 --> 00:02:08.570 that have been deployed to Azerbaijan. 54 00:02:08.570 --> 00:02:09.540 Since earlier this year. 55 00:02:09.540 --> 00:02:11.720 Canada has an arms embargo placed against Turkey, 56 00:02:11.720 --> 00:02:13.780 but lets the sale of sensors go through 57 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:15.620 not knowing that they would end up in Azerbaijan. 58 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:17.980 After a TBT was shot down by Armenian forces, 59 00:02:17.980 --> 00:02:19.210 it was discovered that these components 60 00:02:19.210 --> 00:02:21.000 had been passed along to Azerbaijan 61 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:23.010 and Bombardier has stopped sales to Turkey. 62 00:02:23.010 --> 00:02:25.290 While the Canadian government has suspended permits 63 00:02:25.290 --> 00:02:27.423 for sale of Wescam sensors to Turkey. 64 00:02:28.371 --> 00:02:30.873 [upbeat music]