Rebel groups in Mali capture a drone control station
Malian rebel groups have been relentlessly posting on Facebook ever since they captured the Malian city of Kidal on April 26. The videos show the fighters – both separatists from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) – posing in front of captured or destroyed military vehicles.
Some of the vehicles once belonged to the Africa Corps – the Russian paramilitary group that took over from Wagner mercenaries – while others belong to the Malian armed forces.
However, one image in particular posted by the rebel groups is particularly interesting. It shows a mobile ground control station for drones used by the Malian Army to control the northern part of the country.
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In one of the videos, a fighter points the camera towards a sand-coloured container, protected by wire mesh, sitting on the back of a truck in the Kidal military base. When he enters the container, he films the interior: filled with three screens, racks of electronic equipment and joysticks.
It’s a Ground Control Station (or GCS), a mobile control station where operators fly military drones. The drone models used by the Malian Armed Forces – the TB2 and the Akinci – are Turkish-made. They are capable of conducting surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as dropping guided bombs. They’ve been used in strikes on civilian populations, like in the village of Amasrakad in March 2024.
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The positions of the screens and joysticks filmed in the container correspond to the models that appear on the website of Baykar, the Turkish company that supplies the Malian army with military drones.
This same ground control centre was filmed by the Office of Radio and Television of Mali (ORTM) in 2022, during a report on the Malian Armed Forces’ use of Turkish TB2 drones.
According to Baykar, the container is an ACE III shelter, a type of container specially built for operations that meets NATO standards. The container is like a Faraday cage – no electromagnetic signals penetrate the interior.
The video also shows the presence of a number of antennae, which resemble those seen in a photo shared by the Polish army to announce the acquisition of TB2 drones.
While it is hard to determine the exact role that these antennas play in drone operations, the online investigator Perma reported that they are used to relay signals. The antennas appear in the catalogue of the Turkish company Denge Airport Equipment.
While the rebel groups may have captured the drone ground control centre, no images have been posted showing them in possession of TB2 drones. Local sources reported that the drone ground control station was targeted in an air strike, but it is impossible to establish the level of damage incurred.
This article has been translated from the original in French by Brenna Daldorph.
Crédito: Link de origem