Bayraktar KIZILELMA's tests in the sky continue. In this context, Turkey's first unmanned warplane made its second flight at the AKINCI Flight Training and Test Center in Çorlu, Tekirdağ. During the second flight conducted under the management of Baykar Chairman of the Board and Technology Leader Selçuk Bayraktar, the System Identification Test was successfully completed.
FLY IN ONE YEAR
Bayraktar KIZILELMA project, which Baykar set out with 100% equity capital, started in 2021. Bayraktar KIZILELMA, with the tail number of TC-ÖZB, which came off the production line on November 14, 2022, was transferred to AKINCI Flight Training and Test Center in Çorlu. After successfully completing the ground tests here, it made its first flight on 14 December 2022. Thus, the doors of a new era in Turkish aviation and defense history were opened.
LANDING AND TAKING off SHIPS WITH SHORT RUNWAYS
Bayraktar KIZILELMA will be a platform that will revolutionize the battlefield with its landing and take-off capability, especially for ships with short runways. Bayraktar KIZILELMA, which has been developed to have the ability to land and take off on short-runway ships such as the TCG Anadolu ship, which Turkey has built and is currently conducting cruise tests, will play an important role in overseas missions thanks to this capability. With this capability, it will assume a strategic role in the protection of the Blue Homeland.
LOW RADAR VISIBILITY
Bayraktar KIZILELMA will successfully accomplish the most challenging missions thanks to the low radar signature it will obtain from its design. Turkey's first unmanned fighter aircraft, which is aimed to have a take-off weight of 6 tons, will use all nationally developed ammunition and will be a great power multiplier with a planned 1500 kilogram payload capacity. The unmanned fighter aircraft will also have high situational awareness with the national AESA radar.
BALANCES WILL CHANGE ON THE WAR FIELD
Bayraktar KIZILELMA, which can perform air-air combat like manned warplanes with aggressive maneuvers, unlike unmanned aerial vehicles, will also provide effectiveness against air targets with domestic air-air munitions. With these abilities, he will change the balance on the battlefield. It will have a multiplier effect on Turkey's deterrence.
2023 STARTED WITH EXPORTS
Baykar started 2023 with an export contract of 370 million dollars signed with the Kuwait Ministry of Defense. Since the beginning of the UAV R&D process in 2003, Baykar has earned 75% of all its revenues from exports. In 2021, it became the export leader of the defense and aerospace industry, according to the data of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM). Baykar, whose export rate was 2022% in the contracts signed in 99.3, made exports of 1.18 billion dollars. Baykar, which is the biggest exporter of the defense and aerospace industry, has a turnover of 2022 billion dollars in 1.4. Outperforming its American, European and Chinese competitors in the competitive process, Baykar signed an agreement with the Kuwait Ministry of Defense, and the number of countries with which export contracts were signed for Bayraktar TB2 SİHA became 28. In addition, Bayraktar AKINCI has signed export contracts for TİHA with 5 countries so far.
“BAYKAR DEVELOPS ALL ITS PROJECTS WITH ITS OWN RESOURCES”
Regarding the allegations that Baykar, who has been carrying out all his projects with his own capital from the beginning until today, received support from the state and was afraid of competition, President of Presidency Defense Industry Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir, in his statement last week, said: “Baykar, who was targeted under the name of criticism, is the shining star of the ecosystem and the pride of our country. As the President of the institution that carries out the coordination and responsibility of the sector, I must state that the allegations against Baykar are unjust and baseless. No development contract has been signed for Bayraktar TB2 and Bayraktar Akıncı unmanned aerial vehicles. All costs related to the development of Bayraktar Akıncı UAV system were covered by Baykar's own resources. All costs related to the development of Bayraktar Kızılelma Unmanned Fighter Aircraft are also covered by its own resources. On the other hand, in the procurement process, the price paid to the company for the TB2022 and AKINCI systems procured from Baykar company within 2 defense and security expenditures by the public institutions of our country is below 1 percent. There is no different rate than this in previous years.”
“THE WORLD IS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THIS SUCCESS”
SSB President Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir drew attention to the fact that Baykar is a company that exports to more than 30 countries, has generated approximately 75 percent of all its revenues from exports since its establishment, and has an export share of over 2022 percent among the contracts signed in 99. Demir stated that more than 25 percent of the total exports made in the defense industry last year was carried out by Baykar alone and said: “Who wants to touch such a company, a country that makes a great contribution to the country and the fight against terrorism? While the whole world is trying to understand this success, I consider it unfair to take such an approach and I invite everyone to show mercy. This is the correct chart. Is this success possible without competition, without an ecosystem? In the past, we have become a country that has nearly 300 domestic and national UAVs and SİHAs in its inventory, from a country that had been waiting for days for a single surveillance UAV. No one can ignore Baykar's share in this success.”
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