Turkish Bayraktar KIZILELMA Hit An Aerial Target For First Time In History Of Unmanned Aircraft

The Turkish Bayraktar KIZILELMA entered the history of world aviation by becoming the world’s first unmanned combat aircraft to destroy a supersonic jet target using an air-to-air missile beyond the line of sight.

The test took place over a test site near the city of Sinop. According to Baykar, the fully national KIZILELMA platform, developed entirely at its own expense, detected the target using an airborne active phased array radar MURAD manufactured by ASELSAN, engaged it in tracking and successfully launched the long-range GÖKDOĞAN missile built by TÜBİTAK SAGE. The national missile hit a high-speed target with a direct hit.

Most of the projects existing in the world unmanned combat aircraft are being developed to perform air-to-ground missions. Until now, not a single unmanned platform in the world has had the ability to fire at air targets. Bayraktar KIZILELMA, having performed such a shot, proved a higher level of his combat capabilities. Thus, becoming the first and only such platform in the world, it opened a new era in the history of aviation.

For the first time in the history of aviation, a completely national chain of “radar – missile – unmanned carrier” successfully completed the task of air combat. No other country in the world has yet demonstrated such capabilities in unmanned platforms.

The test involved five Turkish Air Force F-16 fighters, which took off from Merzifon airbase. They flew together in formation with KIZILELMA, testing the concept of joint operations for manned and unmanned aircraft of the future. The historical moment was recorded from the air by another Turkish drone – Bayraktar AKINCI.

For testing directly from the boards The F-16 was observed by the commander of the Turkish Air Force, Army General Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu, the commander of combat aviation, Army General Rafet Dalkıran, ASELSAN General Director Ahmet Akyol, and Chairman of the Board of Baykar Selcuk Bayraktar. Also present were the director of the TÜBİTAK SAGE Institute, Kemal Topalömer, and the general director of ROKETSAN, Murat Ikinci.

“It sees without being seen, it strikes without being struck”

Thanks to the extremely low radar visibility and advanced sensors, KIZILELMA is capable of detecting the enemy at enormous distances before being detected.

The test showed that the concept of the “stealth attack drone”, which changed the rules of ground operations with Bayraktar TB2, is now transferred to air combat.

The platform has already been integrated with the most modern Turkish systems MURAD AESA radar and TOYGUN stealth electro-optical targeting system (ASELSAN). KIZILELMA is capable of carrying the full range of national ammunition, including GÖKDOĞAN, TOLUN and TEBER-82.