ANKARA -

In light of the continuous talk about the effective combat role of the Turkish drones in the currently raging Russian-Ukrainian war, the announcement of the success of a developed model of Bayraktar aircraft, which officials describe as the most powerful in the world, draws attention to it.

The Turkish company "Baykar" announced the success of the first flight of the modern model of the "Bayraktar AKINCI TİHA" attack drone, which was developed with local capabilities. The Presidency of Defense Industries of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey.

Akinci is an Ottoman word used to refer to the frontier cavalry forces of the Ottoman Empire, tasked with launching raids on enemy states.

As for "Bayraktar", it symbolizes the family name of "Seljuk Bayraktar", the inventor of the Turkish drone.

#AKINCI B: Kendi sınıfında dünyadaki en güçlü ve muharebe kabiliyeti en yüksek Taarruzi İnsansız Hava Aracı.

Bugün ilk uçuşunu başarıyla tamamladı!

Vatanımıza, milletimize hayırlı olsun.

[AKINCI A 450×2 900 HP]


[AKINCI B 750×2 1500 HP] #MilliTeknolojiHamlesi ✈️🐳🚀🌍🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/JQxmVCkiFM

— Selçuk Bayraktar (@Selcuk) March 2, 2022

combat abilities

"Baykar", a leading manufacturer of parades, said in a statement that the "B" model of the aircraft successfully completed its first flight, after flying from the training and testing center designated for the project in Tekirdag, northwestern Turkey.

According to Baykar officials, the Model B has unique features and great combat capabilities, which are as follows:

  •  The most powerful and possessing the highest combat capabilities in the world among the aircraft in its class.

  • It lasts 1 hour and 16 minutes in flight.

  • The model B's pneumatic engine (2 x 750) has a combined power of 1,500 hp.

  • Unmanned armed aerial vehicle with long endurance at high altitude.

  •  The aircraft will carry radar developed by ASELSAN, "Beyond Line of Sight" communication systems and electronic support systems, and will be able to collect information by recording data it receives from sensors and cameras on the aircraft.

  • The new model has an artificial intelligence system that can detect the angles of inclination, standing and direction of the aircraft without the need for any external sensors or GPS.

  •  The aircraft has an environmental awareness system around it;

    Thanks to the advanced artificial intelligence system, it has the ability to make decisions on its own by processing the data it obtains.

  •  It can detect very accurate ground targets and deal with them more effectively.

In this context, Engineer Selcuk Bayraktar, Technical Director of Baykar, posted a tweet on Twitter, in which he stated that the Model B is the most powerful and has the highest combat capabilities in the world among the attack drones, expressing his hope that the aircraft will bring good to Turkey and its people, He pointed out that the company will soon test the flight of the "C" model of the same aircraft, which has a capacity of 1900 hp.

The success of the flight of the "B" model comes in light of the availability of 6 Bayraktar Akinci Model "A" aircraft in the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces, with a total power of 900 horsepower for its engine.

The new model of the offensive march, Bayraktar Akinci, has a long endurance at high altitudes (Anatolia).

Returns to Turkey

Baykar's general manager, Khalouk Bayraktar, posted scenes of the new model's flight through his account on "Twitter", and said that the company had signed contracts with two countries to export the new model of Bayraktar Akinci attack drones.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier that the number of countries using the products of Turkey's defense industries is increasing every year.

"We expect our defense and space exports to exceed $4 billion by the end of 2022," he said, noting that his country is focusing on innovating systems that require high technology by increasing investments in research and development.

Recently, the Philippines purchased 6 combat helicopters from Turkey, and imports many products and equipment from several Turkish defense industries companies, most notably the Military Electronic Industries Company Aselsan.

The defense and air industries reached a new record in exports during the year 2021, as the volume of exports reached two billion and 794 million dollars, an increase of 39.7 percent over the year 2020.

Statistics indicate a decrease in Turkish arms imports between 2015 and 2019 by 48%, compared to 5 years ago.

Turkey has set strategic goals by 2053, such as making its defense industries 100% independent, and increasing its export capacity to $50 billion.

According to Turkish media sources, Azerbaijan, Qatar, the UAE and Ukraine top the list of countries most popular with buying Turkish rallies.

Ukraine - which is at war with Russia - recorded a major boom in importing Turkish drones, and the total of those imports jumped from 17 million and 589 thousand dollars in 2020 to 123 million and 193 thousand dollars in 2021.

Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power, it has made the development of the defense industry a long-term goal, and under the direct supervision of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, more than 70% of this sector is domestically manufactured compared to 20% when he rose to power in 2003.

This boom comes in implementation of the ambitions of the national development plan "Vision 2023", in which public and private companies contribute a large share, by investing heavily in research and development activities, and supporting the government's efforts to diversify its defense products.


Bigger Features

Regarding the difference between Model B and Model A of the Bayraktar Akinci plane, Ismail Hakki, the former deputy head of military intelligence in the Turkish Chief of Staff stated that the first has an engine greater than 600 horsepower than a second, and it can fly at a higher altitude, and stay in the sky for a longer period, It carries heavier weights and is equipped with smarter technology.

Haqi told Al Jazeera Net, "Turkish drones played a prominent role in enhancing Turkey's military position, after it achieved great success and reputation in the military operations in which it was used."

He stressed that Ankara used Bayraktar Akinci’s planes with great effectiveness in confronting terrorist organizations, led by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as well as its operations in Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan, which made it bypass Israel and rise to second place in the world after the United States in using this type of aircraft. Planes.

The retired officer explained that "the new model, along with its predecessors, can resolve battles, and will contribute significantly to the final elimination of the PKK and other terrorist organizations."