Turkey’s Baykar will manufacture a new air warfare drone next year. Baykar’s chairman Selcuk Bayraktar claimed the company’s new uncrewed combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) is receiving worldwide attention and would begin manufacturing next year.
Baykar’s light drone TB-2, deployed in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and North Africa, has made the business one of Turkey’s major defense exporters.
The company’s Kizilelma drone goes from sluggish ground assault drones to quick, agile, autonomous ones that work with fighter planes.
Bayraktar, who created the 15-meter jet-powered UCAV, said, “It is designed to be a highly autonomous, under human purview, air-to-air combat vehicle.”
“In a sense, the Kizilelma expresses a whole new future for combat aviation.”
Baykar intends small-scale manufacturing next year. Kizilelma’s maiden flight was in December, while Baykar’s other drones began formation flying testing this month.
Piloted jets will test the craft. Turkey’s amphibious ship will deploy next year.
The new drone has international demand, but its specialized capabilities limit its export markets.
Bayraktar, married to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s daughter, spoke on the margins of his foundation’s aerospace and technology festival.
Bayraktar said the drone fulfills a national dream: “where we tell the world that our country is not only a player but also a game maker.” Erdogan’s election campaign has focused on high-profile military initiatives.
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