Bayraktar Kizilelma is a fighter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed to conduct take-off and landing operations on short-runway aircraft carriers and to carry out missions using internally carried munitions.
Developed by the Turkish defence company Baykar Technologies, the fighter UAV will be able to operate from short-runway aircraft carriers such as the Anadolu, Turkey’s landing helicopter dock (LHD)-type amphibious assault ship.
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The Bayraktar Kizilelma UAV can also autonomously perform missions and collaborate with piloted aircraft.
The indigenous, unmanned fighter jet is designed to execute a range of military operations including strategic offensives, close air support, missile strikes, suppression of enemy air defences and enemy air defence destruction.
The company plans to initiate mass production of the Bayraktar Kizilelma UAV in 2024.
Bayraktar Kizilelma development details
Baykar initiated the development of the Bayraktar Kizilelma as a National Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle System in 2013, with the conceptual design images unveiled in July 2021.
The company announced the start of prototype production in March 2022 and conducted the first engine integration test for the unmanned jet in September 2022.
Subsequent tests included taxi and ground driving trials in November 2022, followed by the maiden flight test at Corlu Airport in December 2022. During the first flight test, the drone flew for 18 minutes before returning to the same airport and landing safely.
In January 2023, the Bayraktar Kizilelma successfully completed its system identification test on its second flight. Plans to develop a supersonic version of the UAV were also announced.
The aircraft reached a significant achievement with eight flights, four of which were conducted in April 2023. The flights included successful tests of system identification and manoeuvring at high speeds with the landing gear retracted.
In the same month, the Bayraktar Kizilelma and Bayraktar Akinci, an unmanned combat aerial vehicle successfully performed a formation flight during the ninth and tenth flight tests.
The Bayraktar Kizilelma UAV completed its fifth system identification test, along with all other manoeuvre tests, at the flight training and test centre in Corlu district, located in the northwestern province of Tekirdag.
Bayraktar Kizilelma fighter UAV design and features
The Bayraktar Kizilelma UAV has an operational altitude of 30,000ft, a combat radius of 500 nautical miles, five hours of endurance and a payload capacity of 1,500kg (1.5t). The UAV has a maximum take-off weight of 8.5t, a cruising speed of Mach 0.6 and a maximum speed of Mach 0.9.
It features a low radar cross-section, high manoeuvrability, line-of-sight (LOS) and beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) capabilities, and enhanced situational awareness facilitated by an active electronically scanned array radar from Aselsan, a Turkish defence company.
Propulsion
The fighter UAV is powered by an AI-322F turbofan engine manufactured by Ivchenko-Progress, a Ukrainian state design bureau specialising in aircraft engine drafts and plans. The engine contract was signed in November 2021.
The AI-322F turbofan engine was co-developed by Ivchenko Progress and Motor Sich, a Ukrainian aircraft engine manufacturer.
The engine has a 624mm diameter fan, a length of 3,138mm and a dry weight not exceeding 560kg. The engine offers a maximum thrust of 4,200 kilogram-force when equipped with an afterburner.
Armament
Bayraktar Kizilelma fighter UAV is capable of firing Bozdogan and Gokdogan air-to-air missiles. It can also be equipped to launch SOM-J cruise missiles, which have a range exceeding 250km, as well as Mini Akilli Mühimmat (MAM) family-guided bombs.
MAM bombs are produced by the Turkish defence company Roketsan and tailored for small attack missions.
