Turkey's Kizilelma Combat Drone Ready for Flight Test, Its Sophistication Can Reach Supersonic Speeds

Turkey's Kizilelma Combat Drone Ready for Flight Test

Ankara - The Kizilelma combat drone produced by Baykar Turkey has successfully passed the automatic taxi test on the runway. In the next few days the Kizilelma drone is ready to make its first test flight to reach Supersonic speeds.

BAYRAKTAR KIZILELMA'dan TCG Anadolu'ya iniş

teşekkürler @CptLightning
@Selcuk pic.twitter.com/gwiLxzuIM8

— miguyan2000🚀 (@miguyan2000) April 27, 2022

A video shared by the Turkish military media's Twitter account shows the drone passing a test of the so-called automatic taxi and moving on the tarmac. The drone is brought by a tow truck to the take-off point and passes an automated taxi test. The automated taxi test looks simple, the drone is only seen walking along the runway in preparation for take-off. However, this test is important for testing all systems and avionics on a drone in preparation for a flight test.

Turkish media announced that at the end of this week, or in early December, the first flight of the unmanned combat aircraft will take place soon. Of course this moment is very much awaited, whether the Kizilelma drone is able to fly to reach supersonic speeds or Mach 1.

Quoted from the Bulgarian Military website, Monday (21/11/2022), Kızılelma is designed to be a combat platform that can land and take off from short runways. This drone is suitable for the Turkish Air Force and the Turkish Navy. In the future, the Kızılelma drone may land on the TCG Anadolu aircraft carrier, which is also undergoing cruise tests.

Baykar said that the Kızılelma drone will be aggressive with the ability to carry air-to-air missile combat weapons and will carry out aerial combat with great maneuvers. Baykar has developed the Kizilelma drone with low radar visibility despite carrying a 1,500 kilogram gun.

The unmanned combat aircraft will also have high situational awareness with an integrated AESA radar. Kızılelma drones can communicate with army operations centers, or headquarters, either directly or indirectly. The operational range of the Kizilelma drone is between 35,000 to 45,000 feet and 500 nautical miles, with a cruising speed of nearly Mach 1. In addition to the already mentioned AESA radar, also developed in Turkey, the Kizilelma drone will have additional payloads such as an electro-optical guidance system. Baykar said Kızılelma will have an independent GPS guidance system.

This drone is 14.7 meters long and 3.3 meters high. Baykar will also develop an ultrasonic version. This twin-engine drone has a maximum take-off weight of 6 tons with a payload of 1,500 kg.

The presence of the Kizilelma supersonic combat drone has boosted Turkey's image as a manufacturer of capable combat drones. Baykar previously had success making the Bayraktar TB2 combat drone which was successful on the battlefields of Syria, Libya and Ukraine. Then there is the Akinci combat drone which is gradually being sold abroad.