Turkey‘s defence company Baykar has announced that its next-generation unmanned combat aerial vehicle, the Bayraktar Kızılelma drone, is scheduled to enter operational service later this year.
In statements reported by Turkish daily Hürriyet, Selçuk Bayraktar, president and chief technology officer of the Baykar company, stressed that the key word for 2026 will be production: “We will continue to make rapid progress in accelerated production and AI-powered swarm technology on all our platforms, and the KIZILELMA will enter inventory and begin its missions,” he said.
Bayraktar further recalled that “a new era in global aerial combat” was ushered in on 29 November, when the Kızılelma achieved a historic milestone by reaching a jet aircraft with a BVR (Beyond-Visual-Range) air-to-air missile: a feat that was also achieved using the AESA Murad radar – also developed by Turkish defence company Aselsan – and a Gökdoğan air-to-air missile, developed by TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey).
Unprecedented achievement in the history of military aviation
“This achievement has engraved the name of Turkish engineering in the history of world aviation,” said Bayraktar, who also referred to another milestone achieved by the Kızılelma: the close formation flight of two unmanned combat aircraft, a first in military aviation.
The executive also highlighted the company’s international leadership in armed drone exports, having achieved USD 2.2 billion in foreign sales last year, making it the world’s leading exporter of unmanned combat aerial vehicles.
As Bayraktar explained, currently around 90% of the company’s turnover comes from exports of Bayraktar UAVs to international markets, which allowed Baykar to retain the title of the world’s largest combat drone manufacturer for the third year in a row. “This success is yours, it is the success of Turkey‘s technology, engineering and defence industry,” he said. “I wholeheartedly believe that, with the same determination and effort as in 2025, we will achieve world-class successes in 2026 as well,” he concluded by saying.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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