The Kizilelma Armed Drone

The Kizilelma Armed Drone

photo illust. military drone by pixabay

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Scheduled to take its first flight in 2023, Baykar Technology’s Kizilelma armed drone has recently been revealed by a computer-generated video presenting its technical specifications. “Kizilelma”, meaning “red apple” in Turkish, represents an ultimate goal of conquest – in this case, demonstrating the importance of this innovation for the company and Turkey. 

Being the latest member of the Bayraktar drone series, the Kizilelma is an armed drone powered by a single turbofan engine. Its small forewings are mounted forward of the main wings, which are triangular. In line with modern stealth aircraft design, the drone has minimum protrusions and its body angles are seemingly optimized for decreasing the radar cross section (RCS). It will also have an internal weapons bay to carry precision-guided missiles and bombs.

The Kizilelma will have an operational ceiling of 35,000 ft. and the capability of remaining airborne for five hours. Its maximum takeoff weight will be 6 tons with a payload capacity of 1.5 tons, and its maximum combat radius will be approximately 925 km.

The Kizilelma is compatible with various precision-guided weapon systems offered by the Turkish defense industry, and its main sensor will be an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system.

The Kizilelma will be able to fully takeoff and land automatically (including from short flight decks), and have beyond line of sight (BLOS) data-link capability.