Kizilelma combat drone: Bayraktar Kizilelma hits both targets in first live-fire weapons test

With its first live-fire weapons test, the Bayraktar Kizilelma combat drone has passed another milestone: as the Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar announced, the test of its in-house unmanned combat aircraft was completed successfully. Both targets were hit and destroyed “with full precision”, the company said.

For the test, PT-3, the third Kizilelma prototype, completed two successful flights at the Akinci Flight Training and Test Center in Tekirdağ in western Turkey. On the first sortie it fired the Tolun precision munition developed by Aselsan, which struck its target with pinpoint accuracy. On the second flight the aircraft attacked with Roketsan's Teber-82 wing kit, which likewise hit with full effect.

Afterburner, new avionics and AESA radar

The current production configuration is based on previous test data, on the strength of which the aircraft was substantially reworked. In addition to structural improvements, it received a modernised avionics architecture and, for the first time, an engine with afterburner that takes the jet close to the speed of sound. According to a company statement, aerodynamic optimisations and a latest-generation AESA radar will enable the drone to “carry out even the most complex missions with a high degree of autonomy and situational awareness”.

Combat drone to enter service in 2026

Baykar has funded the project, launched in 2021, entirely from its own resources. Less than a year after production began, on 14 December 2022, the aircraft with the registration TC-ÖZB took off on its maiden flight. Alongside ongoing trials, the company has now also started series production. The Kizilelma is scheduled to enter the active inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces in 2026.

The aircraft first stepped into the international spotlight in 2023 at the “Teknofest” technology and aviation fair: over Istanbul it flew spectacular formations together with the Bayraktar Akinci and manned jets, including the Türk Yıldızları (Turkish Stars) aerobatic team and the Solotürk F-16 demonstration team.

Baykar as export champion of the Turkish defence industry

Baykar has been developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) since 2003, consistently funding itself; around 90 per cent of its revenue comes from exports. With export volumes of around 1.7 billion euros in 2023 and 2024, the company ranks among Turkey's ten largest exporters and is at the same time the world's leading supplier of unmanned aerial vehicles. It currently has export contracts with 36 countries – 35 of them buy the Bayraktar TB2, 15 operate the Bayraktar Akinci.