Turkish drone company Baykar has made a heart warming gesture to the people of Lithuania, who raised six million euros to purchase an armed combat drone to be donated to Ukraine, by giving it away for free.
Hundreds of people chipped in to a crowdfund raiser to buy the drone for Ukraine as a show of solidarity in its war against Russia.
A total of 5.9 million euros ($6.2 million) was raised in just 5-1/2 days, mostly in small donations.
After the campaign, the company announced that the drone would be gifted to Lithuania.
About 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) of the funds raised will be used to pay for armaments for the drone, the defence ministry said, with the rest used for other help for Ukraine.
Baykar will deliver the drone in a few weeks. It will be painted in the colours of the Lithuanian and Ukrainian flags, according to the ministry, which had said last week it would arrange to buy the craft.
Result of Turkish indigenous weapons program, Baykar's Bayraktar UAVs with their proven battlefield success has become the talk of the defence circles in recent years.
Much cheaper than American and British ones, and much more sophisticated and agile than the Chinese ones, Bayraktar UAVs changed the course of battle in Libya, Syria and against Armenia.
Ukraine has several dozens of the Turkish made drones, and the systems have proven to be an effective deterrent against advancing Russian armour.
So popular among Ukrainians, the Ukrainan army has even published a song dedicated to the weapons systems.
Comments