Turkish Bayraktar TB3 attack drone preparing for maiden flight BAYKAR company chief says

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Türkiye’s BAYKAR company Selcuk Bayraktar has talked about the first flight of the Bayraktar TB3 UAV.

Bayraktar said that the Bayraktar TB3, which is planned to be the world's first UAV deployed on short runway ships, is preparing for its first flight, Caliber.Az reports citing the message of SavunmaSanayiST.com on X.

Selçuk Bayraktar Bayraktar TB3’ün ilk uçuş zamanını açıkladı

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“This will be the first attack drone capable of taking off and landing on a ship. A US company that produces unmanned aerial vehicles and a state-owned company from Israel are also engaged in similar projects. Türkiye, US and Israel, let's see who will do it first,” he said.

Bayraktar also spoke about the importance of the Kızılelma unmanned combat aircraft.

“This is one of the few examples in the world. We currently continue developing this. We hope that it will be available for use in our country in 2024. There is great demand for it from various countries. To date, Bayraktar TB2 UAV is exported to 32 countries. More than 82 per cent of all BAYKAR revenues would account for exports during 20 years. We implemented this on our own without receiving a penny of grant or support,” he noted.

Bayraktar noted that UAVs were very successful during the hostilities in Azerbaijan.

“The Turkish armies gained a victory for the first time in the world thanks to domestic UAVs. Bayraktar TB2 destroyed the enemy’s air defence systems, as well as armoured vehicles. Kızılelma and AKINCI will be able to carry much more advanced ammunition and many different systems, which we call payload,” he said.

He noted that Türkiye has numerous smart munitions.

“All this happened thanks to a 20-year system of nationalisation of the defence industry, which means ‘I will be independent and free’,” Bayraktar said.