On December 14, the Bayraktar KIZILELMA unmanned fighter jet made by Baykar Defense had its maiden flight. Selçuk Bayraktar, CTO of the Turkish company, has shared the news about this event on his Twitter page.
The duration and other details of this first flight of the Kizilelma haven’t been disclosed yet. Still, the event is indeed revolutionary because it was the first time ever an uncrewed fighter took off.
Furthermore, it happened after a record short time period since the first probationary rejected takeoff which took place on December 3. The flight was even performed quicker than planned: it was initially scheduled for 2023.
One more noteworthy detail – the Kizlielma was equipped with a Ukrainian-made AI-25TLT from the "Motor-Sich" company.
Low-altitude takeoff and landing tests of Kizilelma on December 3:
The drone fighter was designed to reach a top speed of 800 km/h, the duration of its flight is estimated at 5 hours, maximum altitude is 12 km. Payload capacity is up to 1.5 tons, the main armament is air-to-air missiles.
Basically, the ability to engage in aerial combat and intercept air targets is what makes Kizilelma differ from its "predecessors" among unmanned aerial vehicles.
