Turkey’s new combat drone has successfully test launched an air-to-air missile and destroyed a target drone, in what is reportedly a global first for collaborative combat aircraft.
In the test conducted on November 28, the Kizilelma uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV) fired a Gokdogan radar guided missile, downing the drone.
Much isn’t known about this engagement, such as just how the target was acquired and how targeting details were handed off, or whether the Kizilelma managed this action wholly autonomously.
Turkey’s military was suitably excited, issuing a media statement and a video.
“Today, we have opened the doors to a new era in aviation history,” said the commander of Turkey’s air force General Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu.
“For the first time in the world, an uncrewed combat aircraft fired an air-to-air missile with radar guidance and hit an aerial target with perfect accuracy. Our entirely indigenous and original Bayraktar Kizilelma successfully completed this historic mission with Aselsan’s Murad radar and the BVR active-radar-guided Gökdoğan missile.
“Turkey has become the first country in the world to achieve this.
“The Turkish Armed Forces have [made] history, and the doors to next-generation aerial warfare have been opened.”
Is this really a world first? Maybe it is.
The War Zone notes that in 2002 the US installed Stinger missiles aboard Predator drones, even firing, unsuccessfully, at an Iraqi MiG 25 Foxbat.
In a test in 2017, a Reaper drone successfully downed a target drone with an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile.
Both Stingers and Sidewinders are infra-red homing missiles, optimal for relatively close-range engagements, whereas the Turkish Gokdogan, which means Peregrine, is radar-guided and capable of beyond visual range engagements.
Turkey has a well-established drone industry, selling to the Turkish military and exporting to a wide range of nations including Ukraine.
The Bayraktar Kizilelma – the name means red apple - first flew in 2022 and is roughly equivalent to Australia’s Boeing MQ-28A Ghost Bat, though larger.
Ghost Bat has performed extensive flight testing. Earlier this year, Boeing Australia announced that the aircraft had completed its 100th test flight. Air to air launches are a capability not yet demonstrated by the Ghost Bat.
Boeing has announced plans to conduct missile test launches by the end of this year or early 2026. That would involve either the AIM-120 AMRAAM or AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles.