Turkey’s New DELİ Kamikaze Drone Carries Out Its First Test Fire
The DELİ kamikaze drone, which was developed in collaboration with the Turkish company TİTRA Technology and TÜBİTAK SAGE (Defense Industry Research and Development Institute), which is affiliated with Turkey’s Ministry of Science and Technology, has successfully completed its first test fire with a warhead. During three days of testing at the Turkish Ministry of Defense’s test site in Konya-Karapınar, suicide dives were conducted against predetermined targets using the munition and fuze system developed by TÜBİTAK SAGE. Many of the drone’s hardware and software components were also validated during the test.
In a statement to an AA correspondent, TİTRA Technology General Manager Davut Yılmaz said, “We used live munitions for the first time in the tests we conducted this week. Despite strong winds, we were able to hit the targets we had set before with a precise strike. I think that this product is a candidate to be the best in the world in its class, both with the platform and unique guidance system we developed, and the munition and fuze system developed by our stakeholder TÜBİTAK SAGE. Considering the increasing importance of kamikazes in wars in recent years, we are very happy and proud to have brought such a strategic product to our country.”
Unveiled for the first time at the SAHA EXPO International Defense and Aviation Fair held in Istanbul in October last year, DELİ is a kamikaze drone which was developed to diversify the loitering munitions that the Turkish Armed Forces have recently begun to use on the battlefield. Named after the Ottoman Empire’s light cavalry, the disposable vehicle, which can operate day and night, is intended for use in war and conflict zones against ground and sea targets, radar, and communication systems.
According to TİTRA Technology the DELİ handheld fixed-wing small unmanned aerial vehicle is reportedly capable of target search and classification with artificial intelligence. It can operate fully autonomously and fly in swarms when necessary. DELİ swarms can make independent decisions and act in coordination within the swarm, share tasks, as well as detect and destroy targets. DELİ, which can be launched with a catapult system or by hand, is easily transported and ready for use in less than 15 minutes thanks to its modular structure. TÜBİTAK SAGE developed a warhead weighing 3.1 kilograms with a high impact radius for the kamikaze drone, which has a maximum take-off weight of 13 kg. DELİ, with its fixed wing design, can stay in the air for 75 minutes and has an operational range of 85 kilometers. DELİ has a stated operational altitude of 150-500 meters and a cruising speed of 80 km/h (50 mph).
In the coming tests, the company will concentrate on hitting targets with larger anti-armor munitions and will work to make the system operational by the end of the year. TİTRA Technology plans to produce 250 DELI fixed-wing kamikaze drones and 10 Alpin unmanned helicopters per year in the new facility it will establish with the incentive it will receive from the state when all tests are completed.