Bayraktar TB3 successfully completed its first ramp takeoff test

Bayraktar TB3 UAV, developed by Baykar, successfully conducted its first Ramp Takeoff Test under similar conditions to the deck of TCG Anadolu Ship.
The test process of the domestically and originally developed armed unmanned aerial vehicle Bayraktar TB3 by Baykar continues successfully. Making its first flight as a gift to the 100th anniversary of our Republic on October 27, 2023, Bayraktar TB3 successfully completed the Ramp Takeoff Test it tried for the first time.
Taking off from a ramp similar to the one on TCG Anadolu, Bayraktar TB3 UAV took off from a ramp for the first time today in the test conducted at Baykar Flight Training and Test Center in Keşan, Edirne. A ramp with a 12-degree slope, built with the same specifications as the deck of TCG Anadolu where Bayraktar TB3 will be stationed, is located in Keşan. In the first Ramp Takeoff Test, Bayraktar TB3 UAV, which tried takeoff from the ramp 4 times, successfully completed all takeoffs, marking the beginning of the stage before boarding the ship in the test campaign.
Flight in formation with Bayraktar AKINCI to Keşan
Bayraktar TB3, which successfully completed low altitude, medium altitude, and high altitude performance and system identification tests at AKINCI Flight Training and Test Center in Çorlu, Tekirdağ, took off from Tekirdağ Çorlu on May 22, 2024, on the arm of Bayraktar AKINCI UCAV. The two platforms headed to Keşan with their first formation flight and successfully completed the transfer of Bayraktar TB3 to Baykar Flight Training and Test Center in Keşan, Edirne. Bayraktar TB3 UAV will continue its test activities for a while on a specially prepared ramped runway in Keşan.
Total flight time reached 395 hours
Bayraktar TB3 UAV has spent a total of 395 hours and 43 minutes in the air during the test flights conducted so far. The national UAV stayed airborne for 32 hours without landing during the long flight test conducted on December 20, 2023, covering a distance of 5,700 km.
National UAV, National camera
Bayraktar TB3 UAV flew for the first time with ASELFLIR-500 developed nationally by Aselsan on March 26, 2024. Within the scope of the conducted test, the integration of ASELFLIR-500 Electro-Optical Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Targeting System, which has the highest performance compared to its counterparts worldwide, was successfully realized.
First flight from TCG ANADOLU in 2024
Bayraktar TB3 UAV, with its foldable wing structure, will be the world’s first armed unmanned aerial vehicle capable of takeoff and landing from short-field ships like TCG Anadolu. Selçuk Bayraktar, Chairman of the Board and Technology Leader of Baykar, announced that they plan to start tests with Bayraktar TB3 on TCG Anadolu ship in 2024. The capabilities of Bayraktar TB3 will be an important innovation for unmanned aerial vehicles in this class. The national UAV, which will have beyond-line-of-sight communication capability, can be controlled from very long distances. Thus, with its reconnaissance-surveillance, intelligence, and smart munitions capabilities, it will have a multiplier effect in Turkey’s deterrent power by executing assault missions against overseas targets.
Export champion
Baykar, which has been carrying out all its projects with its own resources since its inception, obtained 83% of its revenues from exports since the beginning of the UAV R&D process in 2003. According to the data of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) for 2021 and 2022, Baykar became the export leader in the defense and aerospace sector. Declared as the export champion of the sector by the Presidency of Defense Industries in 2023, Baykar realized exports worth 1.8 billion dollars last year. Baykar, which has obtained more than 90% of its revenues from exports in recent years, alone accounted for one-third of the defense and aerospace sector exports in 2023. As the world’s largest UAV exporter, Baykar’s signed contracts to date have been 97.5% export-oriented. Export agreements have been signed with 33 countries for Bayraktar TB2 UAV and with a total of 34 countries, including 9 countries so far, for Bayraktar AKINCI UCAV.