Turkish defence company Baykar has announced the successful completion of the first flight test of its new jet-powered uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV), called Kizilelma.
This was shared by the company through a video released on 14 December.
In the video, Baykar chief technology officer (CTO) Selcuk Bayraktar said that the new indigenously developed drone has successfully performed its maiden flight.
Baykar tweeted: “We signed our signature in world aviation history. Bayraktar #KIZILELMA, Turkey’s first uncrewed warplane, made its first flight.”
According to a report by Reuters, the test involved the vehicle taking off from an airbase in the northwestern Corlu province in Istanbul.
The report claimed that Baykar’s Kizilema drone is being developed for use with the Turkish Navy’s future drone carrier vessel, which is being constructed to replace the aircraft carrier after the country was removed from the F-35 programme.
The latest milestone comes a few days after the company announced that Kizilelma performed a low-altitude take-off and landing test, touching the ground for the first time.
The company also tweeted a video on 3 December, announcing the successful completion of the test.
Kizilelma is an indigenously developed future air combat uncrewed jet. It is a stealth drone that can manoeuvre without being identified by the enemy’s radar systems.
This fighter UAV, according to the company, can take off and land on aircraft carriers with short runways and operate at an altitude of 35,000ft.
It features internally carried munitions with a take-off weight capability of up to 6t, along with five hours of endurance capacity.
Furthermore, the UCAV will also offer high situational awareness using its active electronically scanned array radar.
