Newsletters
The Bayraktar TB3, the first UCAV in world aviation history to perform takeoff and landing from a short-runway vessel, demonstrated its strength by achieving yet another historic milestone on the Distinguished Observer Day of the Seawolf 2025 Exercise conducted by the Turkish Naval Forces Command.
Two Bayraktar TB3 UCAVs, tail numbers PT-3 and PT-4, launched consecutively from TCG Anadolu cruising off the coast of Antalya and carried out two salvo strikes on land targets with pinpoint accuracy.
Admiral Ercument Tatloglu emphasizes that TB3 UCAVs have ushered in a new era for the Turkish Navy as they demonstrate cutting-edge capabilities from TCG Anadolu.
Speaking on the success of the exercise, Turkish Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ercument Tatlioglu underscored the strategic significance of the TB3’s achievements:
“This exercise is being conducted across the Black Sea, Marmara, Aegean, and Eastern Mediterranean, involving 120 ships, 85 naval air assets, and 22,700 personnel. Two key highlights stand out: the successful launch of our indigenous Atmaca missile, and the TB3’s live-fire strike from a naval platform. The TB3 has not only demonstrated operational deployment from a ship, but also marked the beginning of a new era in naval combat. It has fundamentally changed the dynamics of maritime warfare and activated several new doctrinal capabilities. We are proud of what this represents for our Navy and for Türkiye’s defense industry.”
Stationed on board TCG Anadolu as part of the Seawolf 2025 Exercise, Bayraktar TB3 UCAVs successfully completed their assigned missions during the Distinguished Observer activities. The indigenous UCAVs, PT-3 and PT-4, each armed with two MAM-L munitions, took off one after another from the ship’s short runway. During the fully autonomous flight enabled by Baykar’s AI-assisted mission algorithms, the Bayraktar TB3 UCAVs hit their designated land targets with four MAM-L munitions in two salvo launches – all with precision.
Following the successful completion of the live-fire mission, the Bayraktar TB3 UCAVs proceeded to the next phase of the planned activity. In this context, the indigenous UCAV with tail number PT-4 returned to TCG Anadolu at the end of its mission, while PT-3 landed in Dalaman. PT-3 will be deployed to Kesan to continue its test program. During this critical mission—marked by a historic success and a defining moment of the SEAWOLF 2025 Exercise—the Baykar Project Team was personally led by Baykar Chairman and CTO Selcuk Bayraktar, who was present aboard TCG Anadolu throughout the operation.
Prior to SEAWOLF 2025, the Bayraktar TB3 went through an intensive testing and preparation phase aboard TCG Anadolu. From April 22-25, 2025, the aircraft conducted successful sorties while the ship was cruising in the Gulf of Saros. On April 25, with the inclusion of the fourth prototype PT-4, two indigenous UCAVs operated simultaneously from the vessel for the first time. On May 9, Bayraktar TB3 units PT-3 and PT-4 took off from Kesan and flew directly to TCG Anadolu for deployment. Munition loading tests were conducted on the ship the same day.
In test flights on May 11, the Bayraktar TB3s –one equipped with the ASELFLIR-500 and the other with the ASELSAN CATS electro-optical reconnaissance, surveillance, and targeting systems— successfully struck targets with MAM-L munitions, demonstrating their readiness for today’s mission. All takeoff, landing, and control phases of the indigenous UCAVs are carried out fully autonomously via the Ground Control Station (GCS) aboard TCG Anadolu, assisted by AI algorithms developed by Baykar.
To date, Bayraktar TB3 has logged a total of 1,080 hours and 14 minutes of flight time during test missions. The indigenous UCAV has completed 551 sorties as part of its overall test program, including 42 sorties aboard TCG Anadolu. During a long-endurance test conducted on December 20, 2023, the national UCAV remained airborne for 32 hours without landing, covering a distance of 5,700 kilometers.
Bayraktar TB3 made aviation history by succesfully completing its first flight test aboard TCG Anadolu while cruising off the coast of Aksaz, Mugla on November 19, 2024. Follow-up flight tests conducted on November 26, 2024 were also completed successfully. With these milestones, the indigenous UCAV achieved a first in global aviation history.
In firing tests conducted on March 25 and March 27, 2025, Bayraktar TB3 scored direct hits on maritime targets using the supersonic UAV-122 missile developed by Roketsan. In the March 27 test, the UCAV successfully struck a 6x6-meter netted target below line-of-sight altitude, guided by a Bayraktar TB2 marking the target with a laser. These tests successfully demonstrated the coordinated mission capability of two different UCAV platforms.
On June 25, 2024, Bayraktar TB3 reached an altitude of 36,310 feet at Baykar’s Flight Training and Test Center in Kesan, Edirne, powered by the indigenously developed TEI PD-170 engine. The altitude record in Turkish aviation history is currently held by Bayraktar AKINCI UCAV, developed indigenously and originally by Baykar, at 45,118 feet.
With its foldable wing design and advanced capabilities, Bayraktar TB3 is poised to become the leading unmanned aerial vehicle in its class once it enters service. Equipped with beyond-line-of-sight communication, the indigenous UCAV can be operated from vast distances, enabling it to conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, intelligence, and strike missions with smart munitions against overseas targets –serving as a force multiplier in Türkiye’s deterrence posture.
Having self-financed all its projects since its founding, Baykar has generated 83% of its revenues from exports since launching its UAV R&D program in 2003. In 2023, the company achieved $1.8 billion in exports, ranking among the top 10 exporters across all sectors in Türkiye. As the world’s leading UCAV exporter, Baykar maintained its global success in 2024 as well, once again generating 90% of its revenues from exports—totaling $1.8 billion.
A recipient of the prestigious Champions of Exports Award, Baykar was Türkiye’s top defense and aerospace exporter in 2021, 2022, and 2023 according to the Defense Industry Agency (SSB) and the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM). In 2023, the company accounted for one-third of the sector’s total exports. In 2024, it alone was responsible for one-quarter of all defense and aerospace exports, establishing Türkiye as a global leader in the UCAV market. Baykar, the world’s largest unmanned aerial vehicle company, has signed export agreements with 34 countries for Bayraktar TB2 and with 11 countries for Bayraktar AKINCI –36 countries in total.
4 min read
