Bayraktar TB3 Carrier-Based Combat Drone Successfully Completes First Flight

TB3 drones are based on Turkish aircraft carriers. (Twitter/@BaykarTech).

JAKARTA - Turkey's new domestically made unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), designed for the country's aircraft carriers, successfully made its maiden flight last month.

"On the centenary of the Republic of Turkey, the Bayraktar TB3 unmanned aerial vehicle successfully completed its maiden flight," wrote CTO Baykar Selcuk Bayraktar in a post on social media, as reported by Daily Sabah November 20.

The TB3, a version of Baykar's renowned Bayraktar TB2 platform with short runway capability, was launched on a runway in northwestern Turkey, before taking off from the Çorlu Flight Training and Testing Center.

It is the first of its kind, which has folding wings and is capable of landing and taking off from ships.

This drone is expected to be able to stay in the air longer, climb to higher altitudes, and carry more weapons than the TB2.

The TB3 is designed to be deployed on the newly commissioned aircraft carrier, TCG Anadolu, which is also dubbed the world's first drone aircraft carrier.

Apart from TB3, the carrier's air wing also has a fleet of Baykar unmanned fighter jets, Kızılelma, which completed its maiden flight last December.

"Last year, as promised to our country, we completed the first flight of our country's first unmanned combat aircraft, Bayraktar Kızılelma, here.| explained Bayraktar.

"It happened exactly one month before the 100th anniversary of our Republic, and today, approximately one year later, we have successfully carried out the first flight of the Bayraktar TB3, which can take off and land on ships with short runways," he continued.

TB3 itself is expected to have a range of up to 1,000 nautical miles or the equivalent of 1,900 kilometers.

"Once they start operating in the TCG Anadolu air wing, the TB3 and Kızılelma will revolutionize the history of warfare, just like our UCAVs," Bayraktar said.

"Let this be our gift for the centenary of our Republic," he said.