Türkiye's unmanned fighter jet completes 1st beyond-visual-range air-to-air strike

ISTANBUL, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye's first unmanned fighter jet successfully shot down a jet-powered aerial target in a Black Sea test using a beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile, its producer Baykar announced Sunday.

Bayraktar Kizilelma, the unmanned fighter jet, carried out the test off the coast of Sinop province, said Baykar, a leading Turkish defense and aerospace company, in a statement on social media.

The state broadcaster TRT reported that the test involved five F-16 fighter jets that took off from Merzifon's 5th Main Jet Base and joined Kizilelma over Sinop. Flying together in a five-ship formation, Kizilelma showcased cooperative operations between manned and unmanned aircraft.

The achievement demonstrates the integration of a wide engineering chain -- from sensor fusion and flight control algorithms to radar technology and air-to-air missiles -- toward a single objective, said Haluk Gorgun, secretary of Turkish Defence Industries. Enditem