The Baykar Bayraktar Kızılelma (English: ''Red Apple'') is a jet-powered, single-engine, low-observable, carrier-capable

unmanned combat aerial vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...

, currently in development by Turkish defence company

Baykar Baykar is a private Turkish defence company specialising in UAVs, C4I and artificial intelligence. Name Baykar is a portmanteau of the words Bayraktar Kardeşler ( en, Bayraktar Brothers). The company presently operates under the names "Baykar ...

. The aircraft is being developed as part of Project MIUS ( tr, Muharip İnsansız Uçak Sistemi;

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Combatant Unmanned Aircraft System''). A future version (''Kızılelma-B'') will be supersonic. Baykar CTO

Selçuk Bayraktar Selçuk Bayraktar (born 7 October 1979) is a Turkish engineer and businessman. He is the chairman of the board and the chief technology officer of the Turkish technology company Baykar. He is also known as the architect of Turkey's first indi ...

had initially announced that the Kızılelma was expected to make its maiden flight in 2023, adding that a jet-powered UCAV was a ''12-year-long dream.'' However, the Kızılelma was able to complete its first flight ahead of the expected date, on 14 December 2022.

Development

The first conceptual studies for Bayraktar MIUS started in 2013. The most important development regarding the project took place on 20 July 2021. On this date, the first design images and information about the characteristics of the aircraft were shared with the public.

Engine selection

AI-322F Turbofan Engine Supply Agreement and AI-25TLT Turbofan Engine Integration Agreement were signed between Baykar and Ukrainian

Ivchenko-Progress Ivchenko-Progress ZMKB ( uk, Запорізьке машинобудівне конструкторське бюро «Прогрес» ім. О.Г.Івченка, ''Zaporizhzhia Machine-Building Design Bureau "Progress" State Enterprise named af ...

at the SahaExpo event on November 11, 2021. While the first prototypes will go at subsonic speeds using AI-25TLT engines, the next prototypes are expected to be

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

with AI-322F engines.

Disclosure of the project name

The code name of the project was initially MIUS ( tr, Muharip İnsansız Uçak Sistemi -

: ''Combatant Unmanned Aircraft System''). Its official name, Kızılelma; which means Red Apple in Turkish, was shared with the public on March 12, 2022.

Prototypes

On the same day of the name disclosure, Selçuk Bayraktar revealed that the first Kızılelma prototype has entered the assembly line. The first ready-to-fly prototype was displayed to the public in Teknofest 2022.

Beginning of the testing process

* The first engine integration test was successfully conducted on September 19, 2022. * On November 20, 2022, automatic taxiing and ground running tests were carried out. * Take-off test flights began on December 3, 2022 and Kızılelma cut its wheels off the ground for the first time. * The aircraft made its maiden flight on December 14, 2022.

Design

Body

The Kızılelma is an unmanned aircraft featuring a low-

RCS RCS may refer to: Organisations *Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace * Radio Corporation of Singapore *Radcliffe Choral Society * Rawmarsh Community School *Red Crescent Society *Red Cross Society * Representation of Czechs and Slovaks, a football t ...

supersonic airframe equipped with an

AESA radar An active electronically scanned array (AESA) is a type of phased array antenna, which is a computer-controlled array antenna in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the ant ...

. The aircraft is powered by a turbofan engine fed by two air inlets; yaw control is achieved with two vertical stabilizers. The aircraft has coupled-canard controls for increased maneuverability or better controlling the main wing airflow. Internal compartments will allow the aircraft to operate in contested environments while sustaining low observability. The aerodynamic controls feature canards-

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configuration, previously only seen on certain stealth aircraft such as

Chengdu J-20 The Chengdu J-20 (), also known as ''Mighty Dragon'' (), is a twinjet all-weather stealth fighter aircraft developed by China's Chengdu Aerospace Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The J-20 is designed as an air ...

and

AVIC Dark Sword The AVIC Dark Sword () is a stealthy supersonic unmanned combat aerial vehicle from the People's Republic of China. It is being developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China's Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute for the air superiority ...

. The canards offer a trade-off between relatively less stealth but great maneuverability. Some control measures could be implemented to reduce its impact on radar signature. The Kızılelma has a

maximum takeoff weight The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...

(MTOW) of , with 1,500 kg of said weight available for the payload. According to data shared by the company, the Kızılelma will have an operational altitude of .

Carrier capability

The aircraft is designed in a way that makes it capable to takeoff and land on an

amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, as ...

, such as

TCG Anadolu ''Anadolu'' (L-400) is an amphibious assault ship of the Turkish Navy that can be configured as a V/STOL aircraft carrier. It is named after the peninsula of Anatolia ( Turkish: ''Anadolu'') which forms the majority of the land mass of Turkey. T ...

, without any need for a catapult system.

Variants

During Teknofest 2022, Baykar announced that there will be at least 3 variants of Kızılelma with different engine configurations. The engines are produced by the Turkish-Ukrainian joint venture

Black Sea Shield Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

. ''Kızılelma-A'' will be capable of near-supersonic speeds, being powered by the AI-25TLT engine. ''Kızılelma-B'' will fly at supersonic speeds, powered by a single Ukrainian AI-322F engine. And lastly ''Kızılelma-C'' will incorporate 2 AI-322F engines. While there are expectations to make use of Turkish-made

Tusaş Engine Industries Tusaş Engine Industries (TEI; tr, TUSAŞ Motor Sanayii A.Ş.) is an aerospace engine manufacturer and a design center for the production of engines and engine parts for commercial and military aircraft. It is based in Eskişehir, Turkey. TEI wa ...

TF6000 turbofan engines in the future, nothing has been confirmed so far.

Features

* Fully-autonomous takeoff and landing * Low

radar cross-section Radar cross-section (RCS), also called radar signature, is a measure of how detectable an object is by radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy back to the source. ...

* High maneuverability * Line Of Sight (LOS) and Beyond LOS (BLOS) controlled * Takeoff and landing capability from short-runway

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s * High situational awareness with

* Internal weapons bays

Operators

Future operators of Bayraktar Kızılelma

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Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force ( tr, ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish Air Force can trace its origins back to June 1911 when it was founded by the Ottoman Empire, however, the air force as it is known t ...

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces ( tr, ), or Turkish Navy ( tr, ) is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was establi ...

Specifications (Kızılelma-A)

References

{{Stealth aircraft Stealth aircraft Unmanned stealth aircraft Single-engined jet aircraft Unmanned military aircraft of Turkey * * International unmanned aerial vehicles