Türkiye’s first unmanned fighter aircraft, the Bayraktar KIZILELMA, has completed its first live-fire trials with full accuracy, successfully striking designated targets with both TOLUN and TEBER-82 precision munitions as part of its ongoing test campaign.
According to Baykar, the company behind the program, the tests were carried out at the AKINCI Flight Training and Test Center in Tekirdağ’s Çorlu district using the aircraft’s third prototype, designated PT-3. During the first sortie, KIZILELMA fired ASELSAN’s TOLUN munition and scored a direct hit. In the second flight, it deployed ROKETSAN’s TEBER-82 Winged Guidance Kit, again hitting its target accurately.
The test marks another milestone in KIZILELMA’s development, which continues according to schedule. Baykar stated that the lessons learned from earlier prototypes have been integrated into the production model, with notable upgrades in both structural design and avionics architecture. The latest prototype also flew with a newly integrated afterburning engine, expected to allow near-supersonic performance and improved maneuverability.
Equipped with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, KIZILELMA is designed to carry out complex missions with enhanced situational awareness.
Entering service in 2026The KIZILELMA project began in 2021, and the first prototype rolled out on November 14, 2022. After a series of ground tests, it conducted its maiden flight on December 14, 2022—just one year after the start of development. While flight testing continues, the aircraft has already entered serial production, with induction into service planned for 2026.
During TEKNOFEST 2023, KIZILELMA carried out several firsts in aviation history, performing formation flights with the Bayraktar AKINCI unmanned combat aircraft, as well as joint flights with Türkiye’s F-16 SOLOTÜRK and the F-5 aircraft of the Turkish Stars over Istanbul on May 1, 2023.
Baykar’s global footprintBaykar conducts all its projects using self-financing and has become one of Türkiye’s leading defense exporters. Since beginning UAV development in 2003, the company has generated 83% of its revenues from exports. In 2023 and 2024, Baykar recorded $1.8 billion in exports each year, making it one of the top 10 exporting companies in all sectors across Türkiye.
According to data from the Secretariat of Defence Industries (SSB) and the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), Baykar was the top defense and aerospace exporter from 2021 to 2024. In 2024 alone, the company accounted for a quarter of Türkiye’s total defense exports.
Baykar has signed export agreements with 36 countries, (35 for the Bayraktar TB2 and 15 for the Bayraktar AKINCI) making it the world’s largest unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer by export volume.