Turkish TB3 Bayraktar Drone Breaks High Record With Domestic Artificial Machine

Drone Bayraktar TB-3 di TCG Anadolu. (Wikimedia Commons/Ata Bar Marijuana)

JAKARTA - Turkey's Bayraktar TB3 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) completed its 34th and 35th flight tests, breaking a record altitude of 33,000 feet with domestically made engines, the Baykar development company said last week.

According to Baykar's statement, the testing process for Bayraktar TB3 continues to run successfully, reported by the Daily Sabah on May 5.

After carrying out his first flight in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey on 27 October 2023, and successfully conducting a mid and high altitude performance test, Bayraktar TB3 completed a High Level System Performance Test and recently reached a record high.

The UCAV completed testing at the AKINCI Aviation Training and Testing Center in Badminton District, northwestern Tekirdamen Province with a PD-170 engine developed by TUSAhir Engine Industries Inc.

After taking off with PD-170, the new UCAV rose to the highest altitude any aircraft has ever achieved to date with domestically made engines during testing, an important milestone in Turkey's flight history with a record new altitude.

Bayraktar TB3 recorded 327 hours and 35 minutes on test flights to date, including continuous flights for 32 hours which were extraordinary to cover a distance of 5,700 kilometers (3,541 miles) on December 20, 2023.

On March 26 this year, TB3 reached another milestone by successfully flying using the domestically developed ASELFLIR-500 system, known for its superior performance globally.

Equipped with foldable wings, Bayraktar TB3 will be the first armed UCAV capable of operating from a short-lattice ship like TCG Anadolu launched last year.

This technology, coupled with out-of-line communication capabilities (BLOS), positions it as a game changer in reconnaissance, intelligence and attack missions, thereby significantly improving Turkey's deterrence capabilities.

Previously, Baykar Chairman and CTO Sel Marijul Bayraktar announced that the company plans to test Bayraktar TB3 aboard the TCG Anadolu ship by 2024.