ANKARA ($1=18.20 Turkish Liras) — As we reported in late August, Turkey unveiled the second prototype of Turkey’s latest Kizilelma [Red Apple in English] drone. Here’s a little more information about the drone and what to expect. And why Russia is afraid of Kizilelma – read below.
Private Turkish defense company Baykar has developed the Kizilelma, a new unmanned stealth attack drone equipped with an Ivchenko jet engine to fly at the speed of sound.
The company announced on its Twitter account that the first working device is ready to start testing. He also assured us that the drone will be operational in 2023.
Bayraktar Kizilelma is a jet supersonic stealth airborne UAV. The drone is developed under the MIUS [Muharip İnsansız Uçak Sistemi or Unmanned Combat Aircraft System or UCAS in English] project. The new UAV was presented on August 4, 2021. A year after the Bayraktar Kizilelma reached the prototype stage.
Kizilelma reaches 900 kilometers per hour, can carry 1,500 kilograms of missiles and bombs, flies at an altitude of 12,000 meters, is autonomous, receives missions under human control, and is designed to be invisible.
This innovation can land and take off by itself. It also can perform such actions on short tracks. Kizilelma offers a low RCS supersonic fuselage and is equipped with an AESA radar for detection and guidance systems.
The drone has attached control canards for greater maneuverability or for better control of the main wing’s airflow. Thus, internal compartments will allow you to work in contested environments while maintaining low visibility.
In the coming months, Kizilelma is shaping up to become the main enemy of the Russian military since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine. The first tests of the drone are likely to take place on Ukrainian territory, given that the country may add the stealth fighter to its arsenal of weapons.
Haluk Bayraktar [CEO of the company] told the BBC that “our friendship and cooperation with Ukraine has been going on for many years. All our support is entirely on the side of Ukraine because we have a very strong relationship and the country has been subjected to many unfair, aggressive, and baseless attacks. Nothing will cloud our cooperation, whatever the circumstances, our position on this matter is clear.”