The Bayraktar drone, crowdfunded by Lithuanians and handed over to Ukraine in July, is already carrying out combat tasks, Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said on August 22.
“The Bayraktar UAV Hawk about to perform combat tasks in Ukraine,” Anusauskas wrote on Facebook, posting a photo of the drone. “We cannot give more details, but it is in the Ukrainian forces and is performing combat tasks.”
The unmanned aerial vehicle was purchased after a crowd-funding campaign collected nearly 6 million euros in under a week. It was shipped to Ukraine on July 8.
The Turkish arms maker Baykar, the manufacturer of Bayraktar UAVs, agreed to gift the drone to Lithuania free of charge after hearing about the successful fundraising campaign.
The Ministry of Defence used the donations to buy the weaponry for the aircraft.
The drone was named Vanagas, which means hawk in Lithuanian. (LRT/Business World Magazine)