Matthias Monroy

For a long time, the Turkish military held air supremacy in Kurdistan with drones. However, more and more systems are being shot down. Now Kurdish militias are arming themselves. Activists from the USA, Europe, and Rojava are helping.

As the solidarity group “Drones For Rojava,” you are collecting funds to equip the Syrian Democratic Forces with drones. What donations are you looking for?

For now, we only accept donations with cryptocurrencies. We also welcome ideas and opinions from those who are experts in their fields that could contribute to the development of drone warfare capabilities of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). We have communication channels with SDF officials to forward recommendations and/or projects by our donors to the group.

Your donation request does not explain the price of a drone. How much money would donors need to contribute for one device?

We did not specify a donation amount and did not ask our donors for any specific amount in donations. We plan to buy DJI Mavic series drones along with FPV [First Person View, i.e., with video goggles from the perspective of a camera onboard] components such as flight control units, servo motors, GPS and telemetry devices, cameras, electronic speed controllers, and so on.

What kind of payloads are the drones intended to carry?

We are in no way related to the SDF or any other military force. The drones that will be built and ammunition that will be used are not something we are concerned with. Our sole responsibility and purpose is to provide the SDF with components.

You have decided to support the SDF militarily instead of, for example, advocating a peaceful solution to the conflict. Why?

The SDF did not start a fight against anyone. But they’re under attack. The only peaceful, democratic, and inclusive governance system that is built in Syria is under attack by Turkey and their jihadist militias. The SDF has two choices: resist or surrender. Helping them resist is not advocating for war, nor does it mean we follow a pro-conflict approach. We, of course, want a peaceful settlement to the crisis in Syria, but when your land and your democracy are under attack, you have to respond. The SDF voices its readiness for dialogue every day.

I ask this because the left has been criticizing the USA, UK, and Turkey for two decades for the drone war with so-called MALE drones, which violates international law. Now you want to procure FPV drones. Where is the difference?

FPV drones are precision weapons to pinpoint and strike your target. It cannot be compared to massive strike drones that hit targets from high altitudes. Actually, it is one of the safest weapons in terms of protecting civilian lives and preventing any possible collateral damage due to constant close-up video feedback. Also, it’s the only legally obtainable piece of hardware that could also be turned into an effective weapon.

Controlling drones in a military context is not trivial, especially with expected enemy air defenses. How have the SDF forces been trained?

We have no information on the training of SDF drone operators. However, open-source information shows that the SDF drone units have been formed in 2015 and that the SDF has heavily invested in this affordable technology for a long time. Recent developments show they have been successful in countering enemy air defenses.

To what extent are the Islamist militias that are currently attacking Rojava also using drones?

We are monitoring them closely, and so far Turkish-backed SNA have not utilized drones in an effective way. HTS, on the other hand, appeared to have leveraged some aerial assets during their offensive against the regime. But they heavily relied on fixed-wing kamikaze-type drones with relatively heavy payloads. We have not witnessed any effective use of FPVs in Syria by groups other than the SDF.

Your appeal shows that the Turkish military is no longer on the offensive regarding unmanned systems. Reports of downing large fixed-wing drones like the “Anka” or “Bayraktar TB2” have been increasing for about two years. Do you know anything about this?

We know the SDF has developed some quite mysterious anti-drone systems that are proven to be effective against lethal MALE-type drones. There are confirmed reports of at least one Turkish Aksungur [the latest long-endurance drone in military service] and one American MQ-9 Reaper – but by accident – being shot down in the last month alone, which is a serious indication of the extent to which the SDF has improved its air-defense capabilities. We don’t have any information on the type of weapons that may have been used, but we think it is safe to assume it is some kind of autonomous loitering munition that targets drones at high altitudes.

Could you explain these loitering ammunition systems?

Loitering munition is a generic name used for airborne or ground-launched weapons that loiter autonomously or are controlled by a ground station, usually through a video or GPS link, execute target search and reconnaissance on the battlefield for enemy ground or aerial assets, and carry a payload to strike the target. Think of a drone with a payload like Iranian “Shahed 136” or “Saqhar 358”, Russian “Lancet”, etc. This type of system can be used to strike targets both on the ground and in the air. Of course, we don’t have any details on what way the SDF utilizes this system or whether they do at all. We are just assuming based on open-source information.

You only agreed to the interview on the condition that you did not say anything about members of your group. But can you tell us what is your inspiration?

We are a group of young people, mostly of Kurdish origin and some internationalist volunteers with no links to any institution or financial support from anyone. We are not a large team. We have aerospace engineering students, software developers, and people from different educational backgrounds. Some of us live in Europe, some in Rojava, and some in the US. Most of us have never met each other. The only thing we have in common is our patriotism towards the Kurdish cause and our support for the SDF in the face of attacks by NATO’s second-largest army and ex-Al Qaeda and ISIS militants. This is the only motivation we have.

Published in German in „nd“.

Image: SDF/ Drones For Rojava.