In a first, Turkey's Bayraktar Kizilelma drone shoots down aircraft during weapons testing

Turkey's Bayraktar Kizilelma drone shoots down aircraft during testing

Bayraktar Kizilelma, Turkey’s first uncrewed fighter aircraft, has completed a landmark weapons test by shooting down a jet-powered target using a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, a capability no other UAV has demonstrated so far.

Baykar, which manufactures the platform, said on Sunday that Kızılelma fired the indigenously built GOKDOGAN missile and successfully hit a high-speed aerial target.

“The missile was fired from under the UAV's wing after the target was detected and tracked using ASELSAN’s MURAD AESA radar. This marked the first time in Turkish aviation history that a national aircraft fired a domestically produced air-to-air missile, guided by a national radar, at an aerial target,” the company said, according to TRT World.

The defence firm also stated that the test confirms Kızılelma as the "first and only" uncrewed platform with "verified air-to-air combat capability."

The demonstration involved five F-16s from the Merzifon air base flying alongside the UAV in a coordinated mission. Kızılelma’s low radar signature and onboard sensor suite enable it to identify hostile aircraft from long distances while staying difficult to spot.

The jet integrates systems such as the MURAD AESA radar and the TOYGUN targeting unit, and can carry multiple homegrown weapons. In previous evaluations, it recorded direct hits with TOLUN and TEBER-82 precision munitions.