By far best known for providing Ukraine with Bayraktar TB2 UAVs, Turkey has provided a plethora of weapons and munitions ranging from artillery shells to APCs.
The Turkish arms industry has also provided heavy machine guns with Canik’s M2 QCB being seen on a number of occasions in recent months. The M2 Browning is fast becoming ubiquitous in Ukraine, provided in large numbers by a number of nations, the heavy machine guns equip large numbers of armoured vehicles and have also been seen in use in the ground role fairly regularly.
Canik introduced the M2 QCB in August 2022, unveiling an M2 and M3-pattern version of the weapon – the M2F. Back in April, Ukraine received a shipment of dual mounted M2F guns which were seen mounted on Nisan pickup trucks. These guns were seen in a photograph of President Zelensky inspecting new equipment for Ukraine’s border guard service. It’s unknown how many M2Fs have been delivered but they were reportedly procured to combat small drones.
Turkish-made M2s are also likely mounted on the significant number of armoured personnel carriers which Turkey has provided to Ukraine including the 4×4 BMC Kirpi. The Kirpi can be mounted with either a GPMG or an M2, they are often seen in theatre with M2s mounted. Over 200 Kirpis have been ordered and batches have been delivered since August 2022.
On 28 July, weapons researcher War_Noir shared photographs of a suspected M2 QCB showing the gun in a carry case and setup at the range.
Most recently on 3 August, Wagner PMC shared a video of a captured Turkish-made M2 on their Telegram. The video clearly shows Canik receiver markings.
Being largely identical externally to other M2-pattern heavy machine guns its difficult to ID the Turkish-made guns from much of the imagery shared from Ukraine. It is currently difficult to gauge how many are in theatre.
RDS40
At the same time another fairly uncommon Turkish-made weapon has been confirmed to be in use in Ukraine with at least one RDS40 rotary 40mm grenade launcher seen with Ukrainian forces. Manufactured by Repkon Defence the RDS40 has a very recognisable pistol grip assembly with a guard which encloses the whole hand. It is unknown how many RSD40s are in Ukraine with no further sightings made at the time of writing.
Updates:
13/09/23 – Another sighting of a Repkon RDS40.
14/09/23 – Video of an RDS40 being fired at a range.
20/09/23 – Imagery of Ukrainian troops with a Canik-manufactured M2 heavy machine gun was shared anonymously on the /k/ chatboard on 15 September. The original poster states that his brigade’s M113 APCs were to be armed with the guns but reliability issues with 80% of the guns developed. The post complains of issues with the Turkish-made guns but its unclear if these problems are due to the guns manufacture or their set up in theatre. The post also included a short video of an M2 firing. It is unknown which Ukrainian Army brigade was provided the guns.
2/10/23 – Middle East Eye reports that their sources claim Ukraine has signed a series of contracts with Turkish defence company Canik for various weapon systems and that as many as 600 Canik-manufactured M2 heavy machine guns have been delivered to Ukraine.
18/10/23 – This photo featuring a soldier of the 115th Separate Brigade of the TDF appears to confirm that the blacker finish is somewhat typical of Canik-produced guns. This photo give us a look at markings.
20/10/23 – Another potential sighting on Turkish-manufactured M2-pattern heavy machine guns. The undated photographs, shared on Ukrainian Armed Forces social media, featured troops of the 22 Separate Mechanised Bridge.
8/2/24 – Another example of a Canik M2 in Ukraine.
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Bibliography
Canik M2 CQB, Canik, (source)
The Stalwart Ally: Türkiye’s Arms Deliveries To Ukraine, Oryx, (source)
Turkey Begins Mass Production of First Domestically Produced Heavy Machine Gun, Overt Defense, (source)
Ukraine Receives 50 Kirpi Armored Vehicles From Turkey, The Defense Post, (source)
My thanks to War_Noir for sharing imagery for this artice/video.
The Armourers Bench 