Combat drone Bayraktar Kizilelma: Aselsan's Toygun targeting system sits inside a stealth UCAV fuselage

With the Bayraktar Kizilelma, Turkey has reached another technological milestone with its first unmanned stealth combat aircraft. The combat drone is the first unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) to have a Low-Observable Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) built in. The system used is Toygun from defence group Aselsan – a system previously carried only by modern fifth-generation fighter jets.

For the Kizilelma programme, which manufacturer Baykar has financed entirely on its own, operational maturity thus moves a step closer. The integration of the Toygun EOTS has been successfully completed; for the Turkish stealth UCAV this is a significant step.

Two flight tests took place at the Akinci Flight Training and Test Center in Çorlu. Across various flight profiles, the system delivered stable, high-resolution infrared images, precisely tracked moving targets at long range, reliably illuminated targets by laser and transmitted its data to the mission computer without interruption. Adverse environmental conditions did not affect performance. According to Baykar, all prerequisites for series integration are therefore in place.

In the fuselage instead of a pod: what makes the combat drone harder to detect

The defining feature of the new system is that it sits entirely inside the Kizilelma's fuselage. Conventional combat aircraft such as the F-16 carry their targeting systems in external pods; Toygun, by contrast, is designed as an “internal mount”. For stealth aircraft this design is considered a key technology because it significantly reduces the radar signature and thus supports the UCAV's stealth characteristics.

Toygun is also specifically tailored to the Kizilelma's unmanned mission profile. It provides an almost all-round situational picture and combines high-resolution IR sensors, which detect air, ground and sea targets, with AI-supported functions – including automatic target classification and optimised sensor fusion. The UCAV's autonomous mission management benefits noticeably.

Together, the stealth design and embedded EOTS considerably broaden the Kizilelma's range of missions. Targets can be covertly reconnoitred, designated and engaged with Turkish precision weapons without the aircraft becoming visible to enemy sensors early on. Technologically, the Turkish stealth UCAV thus enters a category previously occupied only by manned jets of the latest generation.