Turkey’s drone makes world's first beyond-visual-range aerial kill

Turkey’s Baykar defense company has announced a world-first achievement in aviation with its Bayraktar Kizilelma unmanned combat aircraft (UCA). In a recent test conducted over the Black Sea near Sinop, the drone successfully shot down a jet-powered aircraft using a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, marking the first time such a kill has been made by a drone. The operation utilized three domestically developed Turkish technologies: the Kizilelma drone, the Gokdogan missile, and Aselsan’s Murad Aesa radar, all produced by Turkish firms, underscoring the country’s growing indigenous defense capabilities. The Bayraktar Kizilelma is a fighter UAV designed to meet Turkey’s future defense needs, featuring a 14.5-meter length, 10-meter wingspan, and a maximum takeoff weight of 8.5 tons. Powered by a turbofan engine, it can reach speeds up to 0.9 Mach