The test campaign for KEMANKEŞ 1, Baykar’s indigenously developed AI-Based Mini Cruise Missile, is moving ahead at full speed. In its latest live-fire trial, KEMANKEŞ 1 was launched from a Bayraktar AKINCI UCAV and successfully destroyed airborne targets with pinpoint accuracy.

KEŞAN, EDIRNE 
28 June 2025

Baykar’s high-technology, AI-based unmanned systems continue to pass critical tests with flying colors. In this context, the KEMANKEŞ 1 AI-Based Mini Smart Cruise Missile, launched for the first time from a Bayraktar AKINCI UCAV, successfully completed a demanding air-target destruction mission.



DIRECT HIT IN AIR-TARGET MISSION
The missile’s development and integration programme has passed another major milestone. Operating under the joint coordination of Baykar’s Flight Test and Training Centers in Çorlu and Keşan, Bayraktar AKINCI took off carrying two KEMANKEŞ 1 missiles on its under-wing pylons.
During the mission, the system’s identification, cruise and visual dive (air-target kill) modes were evaluated. In the scenario, both KEMANKEŞ 1 missiles were fired at moving airborne targets towed by another drone. Thanks to Baykar’s AI-aided targeting system, the missiles navigated autonomously and destroyed their designated targets with high precision. All mission objectives were met, confirming KEMANKEŞ 1’s ability to neutralize even the smallest aerial threats.



ORIGINALLY UNVEILED AT TEKNOFEST
KEMANKEŞ 1 was publicly displayed for the first time at TEKNOFEST 2023 (27 April–1 May, Atatürk Airport, Istanbul). Designed originally and indigenously by Baykar for strategic strike missions, the missile was named after the legendary Ottoman archers famed for their unerring aim.

A NEW STRIKE OPTION FOR TURKISH UCAVs
KEMANKEŞ 1 is being integrated on Bayraktar AKINCI, Bayraktar TB2 and the forthcoming Bayraktar TB3. Powered by a jet engine and capable of roughly one hour of flight, the mini cruise missile can penetrate deep behind enemy lines. With a range exceeding 200 kilometers, it employs an AI-aided electro-optical seeker that recognises its target and delivers a precision strike under all weather conditions.

SET TO SHIFT THE BALANCE ON THE BATTLEFIELD
With its AI-assisted autopilot system, it will conduct autonomous flight and neutralize strategic targets with high precision, shifting the balance on the battlefield. Capable of operating day or night, KEMANKEŞ 1 will carry out its mission unaffected by electronic jamming thanks to its built-in anti-jamming technology. Maintaining full line-of-sight communications with its host platform, KEMANKEŞ 1 will transmit all data and imagery it collects to the ground control station through that platform, giving operators continuous situational awareness.

EXPORT CHAMPION
Since its founding, Baykar has funded all of its programmes with internal resources, earning 83 percent of its revenues from exports. In 2023 the company achieved US $1.8 billion in export sales and ranked among Turkey’s top ten exporters across all industries. Maintaining the same figure in 2024—again with 90 percent of turnover from exports—Baykar remains the world’s leading exporter of unmanned aerial systems.
According to data from the Defense Industry Agency (SSB) and the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), Baykar was the defense-and-aerospace export leader in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In 2024 it single-handedly accounted for a quarter of Turkey’s sector exports. Baykar has signed export contracts with 35 countries for the Bayraktar TB2 and with 15 countries for the Bayraktar AKINCI, underscoring its status as the world’s largest UAV company.