Bayraktar KIZILELMA, Türkiye’s first unmanned fighter aircraft developed indigenously by Baykar, has successfully completed its first live-fire test within its test program, striking with full accuracy using TOLUN and TEBER-82 munitions.

TEKİRDAĞ / ÇORLU
8 October 2025
 
Developed entirely with Baykar’s own resources and set to serve as Türkiye’s first unmanned fighter aircraft, Bayraktar KIZILELMA has added yet another flight test to those in which it has proven its combat capabilities. The test process of the national unmanned fighter aircraft is progressing successfully in line with the planned schedule.

 
DESTROYED THE TARGETS
As part of tests carried out at the AKINCI Flight Training and Test Center in the Çorlu district of Tekirdağ, Bayraktar KIZILELMA’s third prototype, PT-3, carried out two separate sorties. In the first flight, Bayraktar KIZILELMA fired the TOLUN munition developed by ASELSAN and struck the target with full accuracy. In its second flight, the national unmanned combat aircraft — which took off equipped with the ROKETSAN-produced TEBER-82 Winged Guidance Kit — successfully destroyed the target in that engagement as well.

TO EXECUTE THE MOST CHALLENGING MISSIONS
Within the scope of Bayraktar KIZILELMA’s development activities, significant changes were made in the production prototype thanks to the experience gained from the first prototypes. In addition to structural improvements, enhancements were made to the avionics architecture. A flight was carried out with the afterburning engine alternative, whose integration was successfully completed. With its powerful new engine, Bayraktar KIZILELMA will approach the speed of sound, and thanks to aerodynamic improvements, it will be able to maneuver much better at high speeds. With the high situational awareness it gains through its AESA radar, it will be able to carry out the most challenging missions.

TARGETED TO ENTER INVENTORY IN 2026
The Bayraktar KIZILELMA project, launched in 2021 with Baykar’s 100% own equity, saw the aircraft with tail number TC-ÖZB roll off the production line on November 14, 2022, before being transferred to the AKINCI Flight Training and Test Center in Çorlu. After swiftly and successfully completing its ground tests there, it performed its maiden flight on December 14, 2022. Bayraktar KIZILELMA thus took to the skies in a record time of about one year. While test activities are ongoing, serial production has also begun, and Bayraktar KIZILELMA is targeted to enter the inventory in 2026.

MARKING FIRSTS IN AVIATION HISTORY
Throughout TEKNOFEST 2023, Bayraktar KIZILELMA achieved flight milestones that were firsts in world aviation history. It performed formation flights with Bayraktar AKINCI UCAV, and on May 1, 2023, carried out a formation flight over Istanbul in a fleet concept with the Turkish Stars — composed of F-16 fighter jet SOLOTÜRK and F-5 jet aircraft. These flight concepts, which represent a turning point in world aviation history, will also shape the air combat of the future.
 
EXPORT CHAMPION
Since its inception, Baykar has carried out all of its projects with its own resources, and since the start of its UAV R&D process in 2003, 83% of its revenues have come from exports. In 2023, Baykar achieved $1.8 billion in exports, ranking among the top 10 companies across all sectors in Türkiye with the highest export volume. As the world’s largest exporter in the unmanned aerial vehicle market, Baykar continued its global success in 2024, again reaching $1.8 billion in exports, with 90% of its revenues derived from exports.

BAYKAR, THE WORLD’S LARGEST UAV COMPANY
By ranking among the top 10 exporters across all sectors in Türkiye in 2023 and 2024, Baykar received the “Champions of Export Award.” According to data from the Defense Industry Agency and the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), Baykar was also the export leader of the defense and aerospace sector in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. In 2023, Baykar alone accounted for one-third of the sector’s exports, and in 2024 it realized one-quarter of the defense and aerospace sector’s total exports single-handedly, positioning Türkiye as the global leader in the UAV export market. Baykar, the world’s largest unmanned aerial vehicle company, has signed export agreements with a total of 36 countries — 35 for the Bayraktar TB2 UCAV and, to date, 15 for the Bayraktar AKINCI UCAV.