ANKARA, Turkey \u2014 Turkish drone-maker Baykar is accelerating two advanced programs, including development of what the company brands as Turkey\u2019s first unmanned fighter jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Selcuk Bayraktar, Baykar\u2019s chief technical official, said in a tweet that production of the Bayraktar Kizilelma \u2014 the combat UAV\/unmanned fighter \u2014 has begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe production phase has commenced 3.5 years after the project took off,\u201d Bayraktar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vertical-takeoff-and-landing, stealthy Kizilelma features a 1,500-kilogram payload, an active electronically scanned array radar and a turbofan engine. It has a maximum speed of Mach 0.6 and can operate at an altitude of up to 35,000 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baykar said it hopes to inaugurate Kizilelma\u2019s maiden flight in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company, which also makes the TB2 armed drone, added it is eyeing Far Eastern markets for its advanced TB3 drone in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haluk Bayraktar, Baykar\u2019s chief executive, said several countries in China\u2019s vicinity will be interested in buying the TB3, and that the drone will be particularly suitable for mini-aircraft carriers like Japan\u2019s Izumo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Turkish Navy plans to deploy 50-110 TB3s on the TCG Anadolu, Turkey\u2019s first landing platform dock under construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The TB3 features a 280-kilogram payload and can reach a maximum speed of 160 knots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkey\u2019s drone powerhouse Baykar Makina is accelerating two advanced programs, including development of what the company brands as Turkey\u2019s first unmanned fighter jet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,12,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3466],"class_list":["post-60234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-industry","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KW4J2W237FBQVDLGBG7ZZROHBY","arc_canonical_url":"\/industry\/2022\/03\/14\/turkish-baykar-advances-two-drone-efforts\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n