The Bayraktar KIZILELMA, developed indigenously and indigenously by Baykar, has achieved another first in global aviation combat history. In a historic test conducted off the coast of Sinop, the nationally-developed unmanned combat aircraft accurately hit a target identified by ASELSAN’s MURAD AESA radar with a GÖKDOĞAN missile developed by TÜBİTAK SAGE. With this success, Bayraktar KIZILELMA became the first unmanned combat aircraft in aviation history to engage a jet-powered aerial target using a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.
Turkey’s first unmanned combat aircraft, the Bayraktar KIZILELMA, developed indigenously and indigenously by Baykar using its own resources, has surpassed another critical threshold that will change the rules of the game in air homeland defense. The test, conducted at the Sinop Range, made history as the first successful test in which an unmanned combat aircraft engaged a jet-powered target with an air-to-air missile.
THE WORLD’S FIRST AND ONLY AIR COMBAT
The vast majority of unmanned combat aircraft projects worldwide are designed primarily for air-to-ground missions. While no unmanned platform has yet achieved air-to-air combat capability, Bayraktar KIZILELMA ushered in a new era in aviation history by becoming the first and only platform in the world to demonstrate air-to-air combat capability with this test.
Five F-16 fighter jets, taking off from Merzifon 5th Main Jet Base for this historic test, met with Bayraktar KIZILELMA over the skies of Sinop. Performing a five-way formation flight with the F-16s, Bayraktar KIZILELMA demonstrated the concept of future air combat by conducting joint manned-unmanned operations. A Bayraktar AKINCI UCAV (UAV) accompanied the flight, capturing the historic moment from the air.
The high-speed jet-powered target drone, launched as per the scenario, was detected and tracked by the MURAD AESA radar developed by ASELSAN onboard the Bayraktar KIZILELMA. After the radar precisely identified the target, the KIZILELMA fired the GÖKDOĞAN Beyond Visual Visual Air-to-Air Missile, developed by TÜBİTAK SAGE, which it carried under its wing. The launched missile hit the jet-powered target drone with pinpoint accuracy.
This test also confirmed the air-to-air attack capability of the Bayraktar KIZILELMA unmanned combat aircraft. For the first time in Turkish aviation history, a nationally-developed air-to-air missile was fired from an aircraft, guided by a national radar, against an air target. Thus, all links in the air-to-air mission chain were executed entirely with national capabilities.
This test, which ushered in a new era in our aviation history, was monitored from the skies. Air Force Commander General Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu, Combat Air Force Commander General Rafet Dalkıran, ASELSAN General Manager Ahmet Akyol, and Baykar Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar oversaw the historic test from the air, sitting in the cockpit of an F-16 fighter jet taking off from Merzifon. TÜBİTAK SAGE Institute Director Kemal Topalömer and ROKETSAN General Manager Murat İkinci were among the delegation observing the test.
The historic test demonstrated how future air combat concepts will shape. The game-changing impact of the Bayraktar TB2 armed UAVs in air-to-ground missions will now be carried over to air-to-air missions with the Bayraktar KIZILELMA. With a much lower radar signature (RCS) than current fighter jets, the Bayraktar KIZILELMA can detect enemy aircraft from a long distance before they even detect it, thanks to its advanced sensors. Thanks to this new concept, which “sees before being seen, strikes before being shot,” the Bayraktar KIZILELMA will be a platform that will provide superiority in air combat.
The Bayraktar KIZILELMA also stands out with its critical mission systems. The platform has successfully integrated advanced technological systems developed by ASELSAN, such as the MURAD AESA Radar and the Low Visibility Electro-Optical Targeting System TOYGUN, which only a few countries in the world can produce. The nationally produced unmanned combat aircraft, which also boasts a wide range of ammunition, will be able to use all domestically produced munitions. Having engaged targets with pinpoint accuracy with TOLUN and TEBER-82 munitions in previous tests, the Bayraktar KIZILELMA has also proven its proficiency in air-to-ground and air-to-air missions with the GÖKDOĞAN launch.
Baykar, which has carried out all its projects with its own resources since its inception, has generated 83% of its revenue from exports since the start of its UAV R&D process in 2003. With $1.8 billion in exports in 2023, Baykar ranked among the top 10 companies in Turkey across all sectors. As the largest company in the global unmanned aerial vehicle export market, Baykar continued its global success in 2024, with revenues Baykar achieved $1.8 billion in exports, generating 90 percent of its revenue from exports.
Baykar, which received the Export Champions Award for being among the top 10 exporters across all sectors in Turkey in 2023 and 2024, became the export leader of the defense and aerospace sector in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, according to data from the Presidency of Defense Industries and the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM). Baykar accounted for one-third of the sector’s exports in 2023 and one-quarter of the defense and aerospace sector’s total exports in 2024, placing Turkey at the forefront of the global armed UAV export market. As the world’s largest unmanned aerial vehicle company, Baykar has signed export agreements with 37 countries, including 36 countries for the Bayraktar TB2 armed UAV and 16 countries for the Bayraktar AKINCI UAV.
