The Turkish strike unmanned fighter KIZILELMA has carried out its first live-fire engagement against an airborne target, and successfully destroyed it.
Selçuk Bayraktar, Baykar’s chief technology officer, announced the historic milestone, emphasizing that this is the first time in the world that a combat unmanned aerial vehicle has shot down an aircraft in mid-air using a beyond-visual-range missile.
The fourth prototype is equipped with the Ukrainian AI-322F engine developed by Ivchenko-Progress, a cooperation between Kyiv and Baykar formalized back in 2021, as per Defense Express.
Radar locks onto a target over the Black Sea
According to Turkiye’s Ministry of National Defense, this marks the world’s first instance of a combat unmanned fighter destroying an aerial target.
“Using the MURAD AESA radar developed by ASELSAN, Bayraktar Kızılelma detected the target aircraft over the Black Sea and successfully hit it with a GÖKDOĞAN air-to-air missile produced by TÜBİTAK-SAGE,” the ministry said.
Next-generation air combat: When F-16s fly alongside a UAV
The test was conducted over the Black Sea near the coastal city of Sinop.
It also involved five F-16 fighter jets that took off from Merzifon Air Base in Amasya Province and rendezvoused with the Bayraktar KIZILELMA above Sinop.
Turkish media note that by flying together with the F-16s, the Bayraktar KIZILELMA demonstrated the future of aerial warfare, carrying out a coordinated manned–unmanned operation.
The flight was accompanied by the Bayraktar AKINCI UAV, which captured the historic moment from the air.
