Bayraktar TB3 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Successfully Completes Its First “Ramp Take-Off Test”
BAYKAR Defense and Aviation Company’s Bayraktar TB3 Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle, which can take off and land on short-runway ships, has successfully completed its first “ramp take-off test”. During the test at Baykar Flight Training and Test Center in Edirne’s Keşan district, the Bayraktar TB3 successfully took off four times from the land test platform, which has the same features as the 12-degree ramp on the flight deck of the Turkish Navy’s flagship TCG Anadolu. As a result, the penultimate phase of testing before Bayraktar TB3 lands on the TCG Anadolu has begun.
In his post following the test, Turkish Defense Industry Agency President Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün congratulated the entire Baykar Technology team on their success, saying: “One of the game-changing capability tests has been successfully completed. We aim to take our army’s operational capability to a higher level with this take-off capability, which will strengthen the power of TCG ANADOLU and become a force multiplier. With the effort and belief of our engineers, we will see our national air platforms taking off from the ship as soon as possible.”
Bayraktar TB3, which can take off and land on ships with short runways due to its foldable wing structure, is the naval version of Bayraktar TB2, which has proven itself in conflict zones like as Syria, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine and has been exported to 33 countries to date. Bayraktar TB3, which is larger and has more advanced capabilities than its predecessor, has performed 46 flight tests since October 27, 2023 and remained in the air for 395 hours and 43 minutes. In particular, on December 20, 2023, during its 13th test flight, the drone broke its own record by staying in the air for 32 hours without interruption at an altitude of 20,000 feet and covering a distance of more than 5,700 km.
After continuing its testing on the specially designed ramp runway in Keşan, Bayraktar TB3 is planned to carry out landing and take-off tests on the TCG Anadolu this year, followed by integration activities on the ship. The Bayraktar KIZIELMA Unmanned Combat Aircraft, another significant product of the company, is scheduled to begin trials aboard the TCG Anadolu Ship in 2025.