Baykar’s Akinci unmanned combat aerial vehicle has fired Roketsan’s UAV-300 supersonic air-launched ballistic missile for the first time, scoring a direct hit on a maritime target more than 250 km away in a test over the Black Sea. The flight took off from the Çorlu Flight Training and Test Centre in Tekirdağ and returned to base after the strike, marking a new long-range capability for Turkey’s indigenous UCAV-missile pairing.
Baykar publicised the trial on 11 September, with chief technology officer Selçuk Bayraktar sharing footage of the launch. The test follows earlier integration work in which the missile had been carried by the Akinci but not released, suggesting the weapon has moved closer to operational integration. Roketsan general manager Murat İkinci described the firing as the first live test of the UAV-300 from an unmanned aircraft.
The Akinci is already a weapons-capable platform used in Turkey’s precision-strike development, and the addition of the UAV-300 extends its standoff profile with a domestically produced missile able to engage maritime targets at long range. Turkish industry has steadily broadened indigenous air-launched strike options for UAVs, a capability of clear interest for domestic defence planning and export prospects.