Bayraktar TB2 drones operating in Burkina Faso?
Suspicious construction work at Bobo-Dioulasso Airport
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Update from 22th September 2022
A satellite image from April 2022 analysed by Wim Zwijnenburg is confirming that a Bayraktar TB2 drone was at Bobo-Dioulasso Airport.
Update from 10th September 2022
The well informed news website „Africa Intelligence“ reported two days ago, that Burkina Faso received five (5) Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones in March and April 2022. As the logistic hub is the airport in Bobo-Dioulasso mentioned, matching our theory.
In the recent weeks the Armed Forces are said to have started operations with them. So far there is no official confirmation from the Burkinabe Government or Armed Forces regarding the purchase or operation.
In the Sahel zone, terrorism is spreading more and more, the northern borders of the coastal states of Togo and Benin are also affected now by deadly attacks against police & military forces, as well as civilians.
Burkina Faso has been fighting for years against the ever-increasing spread of terrorists and armed bandits. The true panacea has not yet been found. The neighbouring state of Niger, for example, is publicly placing its hopes partly in the purchase of Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones. The huge territories and endless long border routes cannot be monitored by pure manpower. With the TB2 drone, it is hoped to be able to fight terrorists and especially hideouts, logistics bases or, even better, their convoys without much effort. The own soldiers do not risk being ambushed, and IEDs become negligible when the fight is conducted from the air.
Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0 PirateShip6
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Togolese President Gnassingbe and Burkina Faso President Kabore in the Togolese capital Lome in October 2021 to discuss the safety situation and what can be done to improve it.
Now there are first indications that Burkina Faso may have acquired the TB2 drones. On July 1st 2022 a TB2 drone flight was recorded in FlightRadar24. The first in Western Africa ever. The drone was operating in southern Burkina Faso and northern Togo. The signs indicate that it was a Togolese TB2 drone. I‘ll post a separate piece about TB2‘s in Togo later.
Mysterious flights from Turkey to Bobo-Dioulasso
Flight tracker Gerjon (check out his substack & Twitter) noticed two flights of Il-76 cargo planes from Tekirdağ Çorlu Airport, where TB2 drones are being shipped, to Bobo-Dioulasso in western Burkina Faso.
Construction work at Bobo-Dioulasso Airport
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At Bobo-Dioulasso Airport, construction of a new building, some kind of hangar can be seen, starting between January 17th and January 22nd 2022.
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On Planet satellite images, with better resolution, it can also be seen that a new wall was built, increasing the security. There seem to be containers next to the building, difficult to see. The two bright spots at the two corners of the walls are also striking. They could be some kind of watchtower whose roofs are highly reflective. Or covers for antennas and co. needed for communication with the drones. A person who was in Bobo-Dioulasso recently confirmed a major army presence at the airport.
Will a NOTAM bring more clarity?
On 13/07/2022, a so-called NOTAM (information for pilots) was published for the north-west of Burkina Faso. Valid until 20.07.2022. It is pointed out that drone activities will occur between the flight altitude of 3,000ft and 12,000ft.
Area of the drone activity, published in the NOTAM from 13/07/2022. © 2022 Google Maps
What is interesting about this NOTAM? Well, the duration of one week and the activity only between 06:00am and 07:00pm local time (daylight) suggest that it could be an exercise. Now the question of who is practising? Officially, Burkina Faso does not have its own drones. The drones of the French and US partners operate independently and on an ad hoc basis, either reconnaissance or targeted attack flights. Exercising such flights with Burkinabe troops does not make much sense, as in most cases the drones operate in areas where is no state presence anyway. NOTAMs are also not published for such missions.
This suggests that perhaps Burkinabe drone operators are practising flying Bayraktar TB2 drones in the region after all.
Conclusion
There is no conclusive proof of Bayraktar TB2 drones in Burkina Faso yet. I will keep an eye on the satellite images: If TB2 drones are operating there, one will be recorded sooner or later. The Il-76 cargo flights from Turkey to Bobo-Dioulasso alone are a strong argument. Of course, something else could have been transported on the flights, but from the well-known "Bayraktar Airport" and that twice? Very unlikely.
The construction activities could also be civil, public announcements about the expansion of the airport have been made repeatedly in the past - but nothing happened afterwards. Linked to the cargo flights from Turkey, the construction of a hangar for new aircraft (like TB2 drones) makes more sense.
On the other hand, it should also be mentioned that drone flights should have been noticed by the population of the second largest city in the country - which would have caused a media echo.
Do you live in Bobo-Dioulasso or know someone who does? Clues are welcome, write me on Twitter, my account is: @fabsenbln
The updates at the top of this post show that Bayraktar TB2 drones are in use in Burkina Faso.