The Bayraktar UAV or Bayraktar UCAV is a family of

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

s designed and manufactured by

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

company Baykar. The UAVs were developed for the Turkish Armed Forces from 2004 until the present. Some models are designed for surveillance and reconnaissance only, others are capable of tactical ground-strike missions. Baykar is also developing drones to counter other aerial systems. The word '' bayraktar'' means

flag-bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

Bayraktar Mini UAV

Bayraktar Mini UAV is a miniature UAV and the first UAV produced by Turkish company Baykar. With the concept of short range day and night aerial

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

and surveillance applications, system design activities started in 2004. An initial prototype Bayraktar Mini A was developed in 2005, and following successful autonomous flight demonstrations, Baykar was awarded a contract to start series production by the Turkish Armed Forces. The first batch was composed of 19 aircraft and they were mainly deployed to the southeast parts of Turkey for use in counterterrorism operations. After hundreds of hours of flight trials, the system was subjected to major modifications and improved versions were developed. As a result, Bayraktar Mini B was fielded and became operational in December 2007 to be initially operated by the Turkish Armed Forces. Due to its success in the region, the system was also exported to the Qatar Armed Forces in 2012. The development of the aircraft is being continued and the most recent version (Bayraktar MINI D) has twice the communication range and 3 times higher maximum altitude of its predecessors.

Bayraktar TB1

Bayraktar TB1 (or Bayraktar Çaldıran) is the prototype UAV made for the Tactical UAV program of the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (''Savunma Sanayii Mustesarligi'' or ''SSM''; now the Presidency of Defense Industries) of Turkey, started in 2007. ''SSM'' invited two companies to compete for a prototype demonstration phase of the Tactical UAS Program. In 2009, Kale-Baykar, a joint venture between the Kale Group and Baykar Technologies, demonstrated Block A (named Bayraktar Çaldıran) with its dual redundant avionics system and fully autonomous takeoff and landing capability. The aircraft was selected as the winner of the program. While the contract was signed with the Presidency of Defense Industries for Bayraktar TB1s, these products were not delivered and remained as prototypes for Bayraktar Block 2s. Instead, serial production commenced with Bayraktar TB2.

Bayraktar TB2

Bayraktar TB2 is the serial production aircraft of the first tactical UAV of Baykar, Bayraktar TB1. Baykar started to develop a new combat tactical aerial vehicle system on request of Presidency of Defense Industries, after the experiences of its first tactical UAV ''Bayraktar Çaldıran (TB1)'' flown in 2011. The Bayraktar TB2 conducted its maiden flight in August 2014. On 18 December 2015, a video was published for the missile test of Bayraktar TB2 in collaboration with ROKETSAN, testing Roketsan's MAM (Smart Micro Munition)s and TUBITAK-SAGE BOZOK laser-guided bombs for the first time. The Turkish Armed Forces describe Bayraktar as a "Tactical UAV Class" to avoid competition with the TAI Anka UAV, but international standards would classify it as a

medium-altitude long-endurance UAV A medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle flies at an altitude window of 10,000 to 30,000 feet (3,000–9,000 m) for extended durations of time, typically 24 to 48 hour An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of ti ...

Bayraktar Akıncı

Bayraktar Akıncı is the first High-altitude Long Endurance (HALE) class

unmanned combat aerial vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...

(UCAV) of Baykar. The aircraft has a 5.5+ ton maximum takeoff weight (MTOW), with 1350+ kg of this composed of payload. Akıncı is equipped with two turboprop engines which have two different thrust capabilities: 450 or 750 hp. Akinci is equipped with electronic support and countermeasure systems, dual satellite communication systems, air-to-air radar, collision avoidance radar and national advanced synthetic aperture radar.

Bayraktar TB3

The Bayraktar TB3 is a variant of the TB2 that is capable of landing on a ship deck. In February 2021, chairman of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) Ismail Demir made public a new type of UAV being developed by Baykar that is planned to be stationed to Turkey's first amphibious assault ship, TCG ''Anadolu''. The new aircraft being developed is a naval version of the Bayraktar TB2, powered by an engine developed by Turkish company Tusaş Engine Industries (TEI). Demir said that between 30 and 50 folding-winged Bayraktar TB3 UAVs will be able to take off from and land on the deck of ''Anadolu''. Baykar's Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Selçuk Bayraktar Selçuk Bayraktar (born 7 October 1979) is a Turkish engineer and Businessperson, businessman. He is the chairman of the board and the chief technology officer of the Turkish technology company Baykar. He is also known as the architect of Turkey ...

said in 2021 that the initial flight of the Bayraktar TB3 was scheduled for 2022.

Bayraktar Kızılelma

Bayraktar Kızılelma (Bayraktar Red Apple) is a proposed supersonic jet-powered single-engined

stealth Stealth may refer to: Military *Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles **Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology **Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** Stea ...

carrier-capable unmanned combat aircraft in development in 2021, planned to fly for the first time in 2023. According to data shared by the company, Bayraktar Kızılelma will have an operational altitude of , a take-off weight of 5.5 tons, a payload of 1.5 tons, and an ammunition carrying capacity of 1 ton.

Operational history

PKK/YPG–Turkey conflict

Turkish military use TB-2 gained prominence in counterinsurgency operations against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and People's Protection Units (YPG) positions across the border in Iraq and Syria. Turkey considers PKK and YPG to be terrorist organizations.

Libya

In June 2019, international news media reported that the Libyan, UN recognized, Government of National Accord (GNA) used Bayraktar TB2s to strike an airbase held by General Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA). Despite the UN embargo on Libya's ongoing civil war, it is suspected that at least three Bayraktar TB2 UCAV were being used over

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...

by the GNA government forces. On 6 June 2019, two GNA Bayraktar TB2 drones were destroyed along with an operation room by LNA attacks on Mitiga Airport. Video evidence shows at least one Bayraktar TB2 flying over Tripoli about to land at Mitiga's Military section, under control of GNA-allied forces.

Syria

In March 2020 Bayraktar TB2s, Anka-S UAVs and an array of Koral electronic jammers were deployed and extensively used in coordinated action to strike Syrian Army targets on the ground during the Operation Spring Shield launched by Turkey following losses the Turkish forces incurred at the hands of the

Russian forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the Military, military forces of Russia. In terms of Active duty, active-duty personnel, they are the List of countries by number of milita ...

in northwestern Syria at the end February 2020. The deployment was assessed by experts to be a success and a tactical game changer.

Azerbaijan and 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war

Bayraktar TB2 at 2020 Victory Parade in Baku

In June 2020 the Defence Minister of Azerbaijan, Zakir Hasanov, announced that Azerbaijan had decided to purchase Bayraktar drones from Turkey. During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Bayraktar TB2s were used against Armed Forces of Armenia with great success. Azerbaijan used TB-2s to destroy Armenian artillery, infantry positions and military vehicles including

BM-30 Smerch The BM-30 ''Smerch'' ( rus, Смерч, "tornado", "whirlwind"), 9K58 Smerch or 9A52-2 Smerch-M is a heavy Self-propelled artillery, self-propelled 300 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system is intended to ...

MLRS,

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet/Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks ...

s tanks,

BMP-1 The BMP-1 is a Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle, in service 1966–present. BMP stands for ''Boyevaya Mashina Pyekhoty 1'' (russian: link=no, Боевая Машина Пехоты 1; БМП-1), meaning "infantry fighting ...

and

BMP-2 The BMP-2 (''Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty'', , literally "combat machine/vehicle (of the) infantry") is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s. Development his ...

IFVs. Several

Osa Osa or OSA may refer to: Places * Osa Peninsula, a peninsula in Costa Rica * Osa (canton), a canton in the province of Puntarenas in Costa Rica * Osa Conservation Area, an administrative area in Costa Rica * Osa, India, a village in Allahabad, I ...

Strela-10 The 9K35 ''Strela-10'' (russian: 9К35 «Стрела-10»; en, arrow) is a Soviet highly mobile, short-range surface-to-air missile system. It is visually aimed, and utilizes optical/ infrared-guidance. The system is primarily intended to enga ...

and 5 S-300 air defense systems were also destroyed by TB2s.

Ukraine

As a part of its military modernization program, the

Armed Forces of Ukraine , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly know ...

acquired 12 Bayraktar TB2s in 2019. After successful use of the aircraft, the Ukrainian Navy ordered 5 additional Bayraktar TB2s, reportedly delivered in 2020. Meanwhile, Turkish and Ukrainian officials announced the establishment of a joint venture to produce 48 additional Bayraktar TB2s in Ukraine. Ukraine's Bayraktar TB2s were used extensively during the

2022 Russian invasion On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

for surveillance of and attacks on Russian ground convoys. The drones played a significant role in deterring Russian advances in the early stages of the conflict. Ukrainian Chief of General Staff Valery Zaluzhny made available Bayraktar TB2 operation photographs on his Facebook account, including destruction of a Russian-made Buk Air Defense Missile System.

Operators

It has been reported that Baykar has exported its drones to at least 30 countries. Only 16 of these user countries are publicly known, while the others countries are unknown: *: ** Bayraktar Mini UAV ** Bayraktar TB2 ** Bayraktar Akıncı * ** Bayraktar Mini UAV ** Bayraktar TB2 * ** Bayraktar TB2 ** Bayraktar Akıncı * ** Bayraktar TB2 * ** Bayraktar Mini UAV ** Bayraktar TB2 * ** Bayraktar TB2 * ** Bayraktar TB2 * ** Bayraktar TB2 * ** Bayraktar TB2 * ** Bayraktar TB2 * ** Bayraktar TB2 * ** Bayraktar TB2 **Bayraktar Akıncı * **Bayraktar TB2 * **Bayraktar TB2 * **Bayraktar TB2 * **Bayraktar TB2

Gallery

File:Bayraktar GCS Cutaway.jpg, Bayraktar GCS cutaway File:Bayraktar Tactical UAS GCS.JPG, Bayraktar Ground Control Station File:Baykar UAV Team.jpg, Baykar UAV Team

References

External links

{{Commons category, Kale-Baykar Bayraktar Tactical
Baykar Research Activities Documentary Video

Bayraktar Block B Technical Brochure

Bayraktar Block B Preliminary Design Review Documentary
/ May 2012
Bayraktar Block B Maiden Flight
/ 29 April 2014
Bayraktar Block B Endurance Record Flight
/ 05-6 August 2014
Bayraktar Block B Altitude Record Flight
/ 14 June 2014 International unmanned aerial vehicles Unmanned military aircraft of Turkey Medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles 2010s Turkish military aircraft Turkish military aircraft