The utility and limitations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are once again apparent in Libya’s civil war. Both the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the Government of National Accord (GNA) are ‘operating’ and receiving external support with UAVs for the purposes of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and ground attack in the fighting on the outskirts of Libya’s capital, Tripoli.
Western governments have watched the battle over Libya’s capital, Tripoli, with disinterest, even as it has drawn in a growing number of foreign powers.
The media department for the militias defending Libya’s capital city released photographs on 30 April that showed a Russian-made unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that had been recovered.
The presence of Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Libya has seemingly been confirmed by footage showing what appeared to be a Bayraktar TB2 at an airport that could be identified as Mitiga in Tripoli.