Türkiye's indigenous UAV successfully completes first ramp takeoff test

The Bayraktar TB3 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a new homegrown drone from Turkish defence giant Baykar, has successfully completed a key test for missions from Turkish ships.

The drone carried out its "ramp takeoff test" on Saturday, under conditions similar to takeoff from the TCG Anadolu, an amphibious assault ship Türkiye commissioned in 2010.

In its first ramp takeoff test, the UAV took off from the ramp four times and completed all its takeoffs. Tests are set to continue from a specially prepared ramp runway in the Edirne province.

In its test flights to date, Bayraktar TB3 has been in the air for over 395 hours.

In a test last December, the homegrown UAV stayed in the air for 32 hours without landing and covered 5,700 kilometres (3,542 miles).

This March, it flew for the first time with the ASELFLIR-500 Electro-Optical Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Targeting System, developed by Turkish defence firm Aselsan.

First flight from ship later this year

With its foldable wing structure, the Bayraktar TB3 UAV will be the world's first armed unmanned aerial vehicle capable of takeoff and landing from short runways like the TCG Anadolu.

Selcuk Bayraktar, Baykar’s chair and technology leader, announced that they plan to start tests of the UAV from the TCG Anadolu ship later this year.

The Bayraktar TB3’s capabilities boast key innovations for unmanned aerial vehicles in this class.

The homegrown UAV, which will also have beyond-line-of-sight communication capability, can be controlled from considerably long distances.

With reconnaissance/surveillance, intelligence, and attack missions on overseas targets with its smart munitions, it is expected to have a multiplier effect on Türkiye’s deterrent power.

Baykar, which has conducted all its projects with its own resources since its inception, has obtained 83 percent of its total revenues from exports since the beginning of the UAV research and development process in 2003.