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Topic: Air Warfare Blog Brand: Silk Road Rivalries Tags: Bayraktar TB2, Drones, and Turkey The Bayraktar Akinci UAV Is Cementing Turkey’s Drone Superpower Status December 21, 2025 By: Maya Carlin
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The Akinci can fly at an altitude of up to 40,000 feet and is making waves on the international arms export market.
Ankara has been positioning itself to become a drone-exporting powerhouse in recent years. Notably, the nation holds more than half of the world’s medium-altitude combat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) export market, unexpectedly surpassing the United States and China in this regard. Turkey’s growing dominance in the drone industry is in part achieved via some of its big-name manufacturers, like Baykar. Perhaps best recognized for its TB2 lethal UAV design, which has been used consistently by Ukraine in the ongoing Russian invasion, Baykar is a rising star in the UAV arena.
Most recently, Baykar’s homegrown Bayraktar Akinci achieved a new milestone. According to reports, the homegrown unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) demonstrated precision-strike capabilities during live-fire tests. As part of the test, the aerial weapon deployed both KAYI-30 and BOZOK smart munitions. Footage of the demonstration was published by Baykar on its X account.
About the Bayraktar Akinci Drone
- Year Introduced: 2021
- Number Built: Over 60
- Length: 12.2 m
- Wingspan: 20 m
- Weight: Max takeoff weight 5,500 kg
- Engines: Powerplant: 2 × Ivchenko-Progress Motor Sich AI-450T turboprop engines for A variant, 340 kW (450 hp) each; Powerplant: 2 × PT6A-135A turboprop engines for B variant, 560 kW (750 hp) each; Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop engines for C variant, 630 kW (850 hp) each
- Top Speed: 361 km/h
- Range: 7,500 km
- Service Ceiling: 13,716 m
- Loadout: 8 hardpoints which can carry air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, and various bombs
- Aircrew: 0, unmanned
The Turkish Akinci UCAV initially debuted back in 2019 at the TEKNOFEST Istanbul Aviation, Space, and Technology Festival in Ankara. One month later, the lethal drone completed its first engine test, followed by a series of technical tests that resulted in the drone’s incorporation into Turkey’s Airfield Command. By 2021, the Akinci successfully completed its first firing test, which used domestically manufactured munitions provided by the Turkish company Rokestan. The Akinci’s advanced specs and capabilities will undoubtedly contribute to the nation’s drone prowess on the export market.
As detailed by an Atlantic Council report, “The Akinci is an interesting example, as it illustrates how the Turkish DTIB is evolving around high-end platforms. Akinci’s weapon systems configuration, featuring Turkey’s first aeroballistic missile, TRG-230-İHA, and a stand-off missile (SOM) baseline of cruise missiles, transforms the platform into a deep strike asset. The high-altitude long endurance (HALE) drone can also fly up to 40,000 feet (out of the engagement envelope of short-to-medium air defense systems). Looming large as one of the most capable platforms in the Turkish export portfolio, Akinci has started to leave a footprint in the international weapons market.”
If the Akinci soon follows the trajectory of the TB2 UAV series, the aerial weapon will be well on its way to further expanding Ankara’s global reach. The TB2’s combat performance has specifically contributed to both the Nagorno-Karabakh 2021 conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the ongoing Ukraine war.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, national security writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues. Carlin has bylines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
Image: Shutterstock.com / EvrenKalinbacak
The post The Bayraktar Akinci UAV Is Cementing Turkey’s Drone Superpower Status appeared first on The National Interest.
Источник: nationalinterest.org