Ankara has just made its mark in the history of military aeronautics. On November 29, a Turkish unmanned aircraft destroyed a jet-powered target craft in flight, an achievement that no other nation had previously publicly validated. The device Kizilelmaproduced by Baykarengaged its target from 65 kilometers away using the Gökdoğan missile, entirely developed by the national industry.
This success completes a spectacular transformation. In less than fifteen years, the Türkiye has gone from being a dependent importer to being a designer of some of the most sophisticated aerial systems in the world. THE Bayraktar TB2 first demonstrated their formidable effectiveness in Libyain Syriain the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and on the Ukrainian front, imposing Ankara as the essential supplier of armed drones. Building on these export and field successes, Turkish industry has taken a further step by designing platforms capable not only of striking on the ground, but of confronting other aircraft.
Baykar’s Kizilelma validates its aerial combat capabilities
The operation took place over the Black Sea, near Sinop. Five F-16 fighters escorted the drone, with two two-seaters on board: Selçuk Bayraktar, boss of Baykar, and Ahmet Akyol, director of ASELSAN. A Akincianother flagship of the Baykar range, filmed the scene. The target vehicle, launched at high velocity, was identified then locked by the MURAD radar, an active electronic scanning system designed by ASELSAN. The missile peregrine falcon of TUBITAK SAGE, capable of engaging beyond visual range, then neutralized the objective.
A few days earlier, Baykar had published photos showing his aircraft equipped with two examples of the under-wing missile. These images followed conclusive tests of TOLUN and TEBER-82 air-to-ground munitions, confirming the offensive versatility of the platform.
Operational since its inaugural flight in December 2022, the Kizilelma peaks at nearly Mach 0.9 and can evolve around 11,000 meters above sea level. With a maximum mass of six tonnes, a length of almost 15 meters and a wingspan of ten meters, it is closer to a light fighter than to a conventional drone. Its AI-25TLT turbofan, supplied by the Ukrainian office Ivchenko-Progress, should ultimately be replaced by a propellant derived from Motor Sich’s MS500. Baykar also plans to deploy it from the deck of the TCG Anadolu, an amphibious assault ship converted into a drone carrier.
For the Turkish manufacturer, this successful test represents a major advance for the country’s air defense and places the Kizilelma in a category of its own on the global market.
Global race for military drones: Iran, Ukraine, Russia and China intensify their efforts
The Turkish breakthrough comes as several powers accelerate their combat drone programs. Iran has built its strategy on cheap, mass-produced devices. Tehran began to invest massively in this sector in 1988, after observing its inferiority to the American navy. Today, the Shahed-136 and Mohajer-6 equip not only the Iranian forces but also their regional allies and the Russia. This philosophy favors reliability and low cost over cutting-edge technological innovation, allowing Iran to circumvent Western sanctions while exporting its systems to a diverse customer base. In May 2025, Tehran unveiled three new vertical take-off drones – Homa, Dideban and Shahin-1 – showing its desire for technological autonomy.
L’Ukraineconstrained by the war, has accomplished a dazzling industrial change. Ukrainian drone production increased from 1,200 units in 2022 to 1.7 million in 2024. The president Volodymyr Zelensky says the country can now manufacture up to four million devices per year. By early 2025, Ukrainian factories were assembling around 200,000 drones monthly, mainly low-cost kamikaze FPVs. kyiv is also developing long-range capabilities with machines like the Peklo or the FP-5 Flamingo, capable of reaching targets several hundred kilometers away. An international coalition of around twenty countries is supporting this effort with funding exceeding 2.75 billion euros.
The Russia has massively industrialized the production of drones of Iranian origin on its territory. The Alabuga factory in Tatarstan now assembles around 170 type drones Shahed daily, with the goal of reaching 190 units per day by the end of 2025. Since September 2024, Moscow has intensified its firing, going from around 200 weekly launches to more than 1,000 in March 2025. At the same time, lurking munitions Lancetproduced by the Zala group (a subsidiary of Kalashnikov), have established themselves as formidable weapons against Ukrainian armored vehicles.
The Chinefinally, is investing massively in autonomous swarms. According to the Pentagon, Chinese capabilities in terms of military drones are quickly catching up with American standards. Beijing tested the Jiu Tian SS-UAV in June 2025, a 15-ton mother drone capable of releasing more than 100 lurking munitions from its internal bunkers. The 2021-2025 five-year plan stipulates that “future wars will be unmanned and intelligent”, reflecting the ambition of Xi Jinping to make the People’s Liberation Army a world leader in this field.
In this international competition, the Türkiye has just taken a head start by validating aerial interception by drone. Ankara demonstrates its complete mastery of the technological chain: radar, missile and vector all come from national industry. For a country that was massively dependent on imports just a decade ago, the reversal is remarkable.
