Türkiye’s Bayraktar drone marks 100 sorties on TCG Anadolu (VIDEO)

Türkiye’s domestically manufactured uncrewed combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) Bayraktar TB3 has marked a major milestone by completing 100 successful sorties during ongoing test operations on the TCG Anadolu. 

In the latest round of tests conducted aboard the TCG Anadolu between May 28 and June 2, Bayraktar TB3’s vision-based, AI-assisted, fully automatic takeoff and landing capability was tested.

As part of the trials, critical features such as visual line tracking, aircraft carrier detection, runway identification, and landing angle estimation through ground view were successfully demonstrated.

Upon completing the trials at sea, the Bayraktar TB3 UCAVs with tail numbers PT-3 and PT-4 flew back from the waters off Muğla’s Aksaz district to Baykar’s Flight Training and Test Center in Keşan.

According to Baykar, the company that developed the UCAV, with its sortie count on the TCG Anadolu now at 101, the Bayraktar TB3 UCAV has logged a total of 1,167 hours and 8 minutes of flight time across all test missions to date.

The total number of sorties conducted as part of the indigenous UCAV’s test program has reached 709. In a long-endurance flight test conducted on December 20, 2023, the UCAV flew non-stop for 32 hours, covering a distance of 5,700 kilometers.

Launching consecutively from the TCG Anadolu in the Mediterranean, the PT-3 and PT-4 tail-numbered Bayraktar TB3s successfully executed dual salvo strikes on land targets using MAM-L munitions developed by Roketsan.

Prior to the exercise, the indigenous UCAV underwent an intensive phase of testing and preparation aboard the ship, conducting successful sorties over the Gulf of Saros between April 22 and 25. On May 11, it also carried out successful live-fire tests using MAM-L munitions integrated with the ASELFLIR-500 and Aselsan CATS electro-optical systems.

TCG Anadolu is the largest ship of the Turkish Navy with a length of 231 meters, a width of 32 meters, and a displacement of 27,436 tons. The ship has a top speed of 20.5 knots and a range of 9000 nautical miles when fully loaded. It combines the characteristics of a landing helicopter dock and an aircraft carrier.

The vessel entered service in April 2023.