Turkey’s domestically-built unmanned “Kizilelma” fighter has performed its first tandem flight with the Akinci high-altitude, long-endurance drone.
The flight was carried out at the Akinci Flight Training and Test Center in the Çorlu district near Ankara, Turkey.
A video uploaded by Baykar official Selçuk Bayraktar shows the unmanned fighter taking off and meeting the Akinci drone mid-air.
They autonomously flew in close formation and navigated through the airspace.
The tandem flight is expected to help the Turkish military explore future unmanned teaming in battle, especially since both the unmanned systems can support combat operations.
Features
First unveiled in 2021, the Kizilelma unmanned fighter is powered by AI-322F turbofan engines from Ukraine.
The fighter can fly for up to five hours at a maximum altitude of 40,000 feet (12,192 meters) and a speed of Mach 0.9.
The jet is fitted with an AESA radar from Aselsan and can launch Bozdogan and Gokdogan air-to-air missiles.
Meanwhile, the Bayraktar Akinci drone is designed to perform air-to-ground and air-to-air attack missions.
It has a fully automatic landing and take-off feature, and can carry payloads such as the wing-assisted guided bomb MK-82, mini smart munition MAM-C, and L-UMTAS missiles.
