The Baykar Bayraktar TB3 is a Turkish

medium-altitude long-endurance A medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle flies at an altitude window of 10,000 to 30,000 feet (3,000–9,000 m) for extended durations of time, typically 24 to 48 hours.https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/products/falco-xplorer This ...

(MALE)

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 ...

(UCAV) capable of short-range landing and take-off, produced by

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 ...

. It is currently being developed due to the lack of aircraft to be deployed on the

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 ...

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 ...

. According to the initial plans the ship was expected to be equipped with

Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...

fighter jets but following the removal of Turkey from the procurement program, the vessel entered a modification process to allow it to be able to accommodate UAVs.

Development

In February 2021, the chairman of the

Presidency of Defense Industries In Turkey, Defence Industry Agency ( tr, Savunma Sanayii Başkanlığı (SSB)); formerly ''Presidency of Defense Industries'' and ''Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM)'' before that, is a civil institution established by the government t ...

(SSB) Ismail Demir made public a new type of UAV being developed by Baykar that is planned to be stationed on Turkey's first amphibious assault ship, TCG ''Anadolu''. The aircraft being developed is a naval version of the Bayraktar TB2, powered by an engine developed by Turkish company

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 ...

(TEI). Demir said that between 30 and 50 folding-winged Bayraktar TB3 UAVs will be able to land and take off using the deck of ''Anadolu''. According to Baykar's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Selçuk Bayraktar, the first flight of the Bayraktar TB3 will occur in 2022.

Specifications (Bayraktar TB3)

Data from official Baykar infographic.

General characteristics

* Crew: 0 onboard * Length: * Height: * Wing span: * Max take-off weight: * Payload capacity: * Powerplant: 1 × TEI PD170 (expected)

Performance

* Maximum speed: * Cruise speed: * Communication range:

line-of-sight propagation Line-of-sight propagation is a characteristic of electromagnetic radiation or acoustic wave propagation which means waves travel in a direct path from the source to the receiver. Electromagnetic transmission includes light emissions travelin ...

Armaments

*Hardpoints: 6 hardpoints for laser-guided smart munition, with provisions to carry combinations of : ** L-UMTAS (Long Range Anti tank Missile System) ** MAM: MAM-C, MAM-L and MAM-T

precision-guided munition A precision-guided munition (PGM, smart weapon, smart munition, smart bomb) is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, to minimize collateral damage and increase lethality against intended targets. During the First Gul ...

s **

Roketsan Cirit Cirit is a laser-guided 70 mm missile system under production by Turkish arms industry manufacturer ROKETSAN. It is one of the projects launched by Turkey to equip the Turkish Army's T-129 Atak, AH-1P Cobra and AH-1W Super Cobra attack hel ...

(70 mm Missile System) **

TUBITAK-SAGE The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, TÜBİTAK) is a national agency of Turkey whose stated goal is to develop "science, technology and innovation" (STI) policies ...

BOZOK Laser Guided Rockets **TUBITAK-SAGE TOGAN Air-to-surface launched

81 mm mortar An 81 mm mortar is a medium-weight mortar. It is a smooth-bore, muzzle-loading, high-angle-of-fire weapon used for long-range indirect fire support to light infantry, air assault, and airborne units across the entire front of a battalion zone of ...

munition **TUBITAK-SAGE KUZGUN Modular joint ammunition KUZGUN-TjM

Turbojet engine The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

variant with range of 245 kilometers and KUZGUN-SS Free Soaring variant range of 110 kilometers variants in use

Avionics

*Interchangeable EO/IR/LD imaging and targeting sensor systems or Multi Mode AESA Radar: ** Aselsan CATS EO/IR/LD imaging and targeting sensor (expected)

References

{{Reflist International unmanned aerial vehicles Medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles Unmanned military aircraft of Turkey Unmanned aerial vehicles of Turkey