PanARMENIAN.Net - The unmanned aerial vehicles featuring technology produced in Canada are no stranger to political hotspots like Yemen, Africa, Libya and Syria. Countries benefiting from the North American country’s drone tech are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the United States, Turkey, to name but a few. The latter, by the way, is the world’s third largest importer of military products from Canada.
Canada announced on October 5 it is suspending the export of sophisticated drone tech to Turkey while Ottawa investigates reports it is being used by the Azerbaijani military against Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Turkish Bayraktar drones that have been actively deployed by the Azerbaijani forces against Artsakh (Karabakh) since the beginning of a new round of hostilities on September 27, though manufactured in Turkey, rely on parts like the L3 Wescam MX-15D cameras and sensors to be exported from Canada.
A Bayraktar TB2 drone, with an L3 Wescam MX-15D camera
This is the second time Turkey is facing a similar embargo from Canada. Amid Turkey’s invasion of Syria in 2019, Canada extended its arms sales ban to Turkey, prompting the many efforts of Turkish diplomatic forces to restore the necessary shipments for drone production. The issue escalated to the point that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a phone call to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resolve the problem. In June 2020, Canada announced the restoration of military trade for drone-related goods only.
According to verified sources, the main reason for Turkey’s concern over importing new tech was the loss of its UAVs in Syria and Libya. Being the largest drone manufacturer and supplier in the world, Canada’s sanctions left Turkey with a costly prospect of additional effort and unstipulated time for finding a worthy alternative to such technology.
The tech used in Turkish drones is produced by Ontario-based L3Harris Wescam, Canada’s la...
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