Published November 30,2025
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Turkish national uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) KIZILELMA has become the first platform in history to successfully strike an airborne target using a beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile, as announced on Sunday, drawing praise and attention from media outlets across the world.
Russia’s state news agency Tass reported that “KIZILELMA entered the history of world aviation as the first uncrewed combat aircraft to destroy a supersonic jet target using a BVR air-to-air missile.”
The agency emphasized the significance of the test, which was done in a test range off the Black Sea coast, near the city of Sinop.
Russian news agency RIA Novosti underlined that most UAVs are designed for air-to-ground missions.
“KIZILELMA became the first and only uncrewed platform to prove air-to-air combat capability,” it said, citing Baykar’s press release.
Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua highlighted the engineering integration behind the achievement, saying that it “demonstrates sensor fusion, radar capability, flight control algorithms, and indigenous missile technology working in harmony toward a singular goal.”
Azerbaijan’s state news agency Azertac said: “Bayraktar KIZILELMA has opened a new page in air combat with UAVs.”
The agency pointed to its cooperative ability with crewed jets and reported that Baykar’s UAVs now account for 25% of Türkiye’s total defense and aerospace exports in 2024.
Israeli journalist Amichai Stein called the test a “historic precedent in aviation,” reporting that the Bayraktar-made uncrewed fighter successfully hit a jet-powered airborne target using an air-to-air missile.
Sputnik media in Armenia, citing Selçuk Bayraktar, also echoed the milestone. “Until now, no uncrewed platform in the world had the capability to fire at airborne targets,” it said, adding that “Türkiye has opened the doors to a new aviation era.”
3 DEFENSE FIRMS COLLABORATE
Baykar confirmed that the test took place over the Black Sea near the northern province of Sinop, where a jet-powered target drone was launched as part of a scenario simulating long-range aerial combat.
KIZILELMA detected and tracked the target using its onboard AESA radar system, MURAD, produced by Turkish defense electronics company Aselsan, one of the leaders in the sector, and launched the indigenous GÖKDOĞAN BVR missile, which hit the supersonic target with precision, Baykar announced in a press release.
According to Baykar, this marks the first time in global aviation history that a combat UAV has executed a successful BVR air-to-air strike. “No other uncrewed platform has so far demonstrated this capability,” it said.
The test flight was accompanied by five F-16 fighter jets that took off from Merzifon’s 5th Main Jet Base and flew in formation with the KIZILELMA, demonstrating joint crewed-uncrewed operation capabilities.
“This historic success opens a new chapter in aerial warfare and is the result of full domestic engineering in Türkiye,” Selçuk Bayraktar, Baykar’s chair, wrote on US social media company X, adding that the achievement marks “a new era in aviation.”
KIZILELMA, developed under the MIUS combat aircraft program, has a takeoff weight of approximately 6 tons, with a payload capacity close to 2 tons. It can operate for five to six hours at altitudes up to 39,000 feet (about 11,888 meters).
KIZILELMA was first unveiled in 2022, at the TEKNOFEST aerospace and technology fair in the Turkish Black Sea city of Samsun. According to Baykar, the UAV is a fully national platform developed exclusively with company resources.
The Turkish defense firm is currently the largest UAV exporter in the world, with defense sales to 37 countries and 90% of its revenues coming from international markets.
The TB2 UCAV, an earlier Baykar product, is in active use in 36 countries worldwide.
