Turkish Military Inducts Akinci Advanced Attack UAV

The Turkish military inducted the Akinci unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), claimed to be the most advanced drone built in Turkey.

In his speech at the induction ceremony, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “We are determined to make Turkey the leading country in Unmanned Warplanes. When we achieve this, we will be one step beyond the 5th generation warplanes that we were not given.”

Erdogan’s reference was to the denial of F-35 jets by the United States as punishment for buying Russian S-400 air defense system.

The ceremony held Sunday in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ. Besides President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, others present included Baykar’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Selçuk Bayraktar and other officials.

Built by drone manufacturer Baykar, the Akıncı, UCAV builds on the success of the Bayratkar TB2 drone which has proved itself in several battlefields across the Middle East and during the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict.

Bayraktar Akıncı Attack UAV carries a variety of domestically-developed MAM light missiles and bombs – both guided and unguided.