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Türkiye's TB3 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) will begin operations aboard the TCG Anadolu multi-purpose amphibious assault ship in September 2025, marking a significant milestone for the nation's naval drone capabilities.
Rear Admiral Recep Erdinc Yetkin announced the commissioning timeline during Teknofest Mavi Vatan, speaking alongside Baykar Chairman Selcuk Bayraktar in an interview with Breaking Defense correspondent Agnes Helou.
Bayraktar confirmed that production facilities for Akinci UCAVs are currently under construction in Saudi Arabia as part of a $3 billion export agreement signed in July 2023.
"Production lines for Akinci UCAV are being built in KSA and the first delivery will take place in 2025. The intellectual property will be jointly shared between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia," Bayraktar stated.
The Saudi agreement covers the procurement of approximately 60 Akinci UCAVs along with technology transfer and local production capabilities. The deal represents one of the largest defense export contracts in the Republic's history, with deliveries scheduled between 2025 and 2026.
Manufacturing will occur at SAMI facilities in Saudi Arabia, where airframe, avionics, wiring and subsystems will be produced locally alongside software sharing. Turkish defense companies Aselsan and Roketsan are collaborating to manufacture smart bombs, electro-optical systems and guidance kits.
SAMI and Baykar signed three additional memoranda of understanding in July 2024 to expand UAV system cooperation.
The Bayraktar TB3 UCAV is an indigenously developed armed unmanned aerial vehicle designed for takeoff and landing on short-runway amphibious assault ships.
The system features foldable wings enabling operations from naval vessels and can conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, intelligence and assault missions.
Bayraktar TB3's key performance specifications:
The TB3 offers fully autonomous takeoff and landing capabilities with line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight communications for remote operations. The system can carry up to six laser-guided, INS/GPS-guided, infrared-guided and air-to-air munitions.
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