PKK Drone Attacks On Turkish Troops Ankara’s New Challenge In Northern Iraq (Video)

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) forces have carried out several drone attacks against Turkish army positions in northern Iraq in recent weeks.

A review of the released footages shows that the PKK forces used Mugin-3 commercial drones made by the Chinese company Mugin, which have a length of 2,488 mm, a wingspan of 3,600 mm, and a take-off weight of about 28 kilograms.

The minimum speed of this drone is 45 kilometers per hour with a flight duration of up to 3 hours and is capable of carrying a payload between 5 and 8 kilograms. The price of this UAV is recorded on some international websites as about $3,600, and with the short runway (between 50 and 70 meters), it is considered a suitable option to be used by armed groups in the West Asia region.

The PKK forces have also used ArduPilot open-source autopilot systems and software in this field to guide the drone, so that they can easily create a flight line by drawing a path or creating a waypoint towards the target, therefore, they can have the least human intervention in the operation.

It should be noted that the low price of such drones, along with the fact that certain Western states try to arm some terrorist groups around Iran’s borders, can be considered a serious alarm for the Iranian armed forces, because terrorist groups can create new troubles and numerous problems against border posts and bases, and even military positions and densely populated areas inside the country. Preventing these incidents requires vigilance and preventive measures by the Iranian armed forces.