AKINCI UCAV Delivered to Turkish Armed Forces
The delivery and training completion ceremony for the Akıncı Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) was held on August 29, 2021 with the participation of President Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN, Vice President Fuat OKTAY, President of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Prof. Mustafa ŞENTOP, Minister of National Defense Hulusi AKAR, Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa VARANK, Chief of General Staff General Yaşar GÜLER, Land Forces Commander General Musa AVSEVER, Naval Forces Commander Admiral Adnan ÖZBAL, Air Forces Commander General Hasan KÜÇÜKAKYÜZ, President of Defense Industries Prof. İsmail DEMİR, BAYKAR CEO Haluk BAYRAKTAR, BAYKAR CTO Selçuk BAYRAKTAR and many defense industry officials at the Bayraktar AKINCI Flight Training and Test Center located in Çorlu.
Speaking at the ceremony, BAYKAR CTO Selçuk BAYRAKTAR stated that Turkey is among the top 3 countries in the UAV league with the inclusion of Akıncı UCAV in the inventory. “We first set off with the Mini UAV in 2003, then our country acquired its first Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Afterwards we achieved to develop Bayraktar TB2 Armed UAV, designed by Turkish engineers and even the developed countries in aviation are in the purchase waiting list. Contracts for exports have been signed with more than 10 countries until now. BAYKAR derives its revenues mostly from export, with more than 70%.”
BAYRAKTAR underlined that as the technical team that designed and produced the Akıncı, they did not regard it just as a high-tech UAV and said: “What we see when we look at Akıncı is the noble spirit and will of our nation, which has never renounced its freedom for centuries, saying that 'We will be free and independent in our skies'. That's why we expect AKINCI to be the foremost and brave guard of our skies, to make the best of its name and to serve our nation by flying millions of hours. We sincerely believe that Akıncı, like our world-renowned Bayraktar TB2 Armed UAV, will make all the difference in the combat doctrine and further enhance the reputation of Turkish Armed UAVs.
Delivering a speech at the ceremony, President of Defense Industries Prof. İsmail DEMİR pointed out that Turkey became a global player in this field with the BAYKAR Mini UAV platforms, which were included in the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces in 2007 and then exported abroad for the first time, and the A-UAV/UAV platforms that entered the inventory afterwards, and stated that with the feedback received from the security forces, these platforms were progressing rapidly on the way to perfection. DEMİR: “The projects such as Akıncı UCAV, one of the important projects of the defense industry, BAYRAKTAR TB3 to be deployed on the ship, and MIUS, a jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicle, are progressing rapidly. Turkey is now on the way to become number one in the world and the guarantee of that will be the young people here.”
Speaking at the ceremony, Chief of General Staff Yaşar GÜLER stated that Turkey has made great progress and achieved success in the field of the defense industry, as in every field, and said: “In recent years, our national defense industry has turned into a structure among those in the world's leading countries, with the joint effort and determination of our valuable institutions and organizations such as BAYKAR in line with the leadership and support of our President. Today, we are very proud to see that our local content rate in the defense industry is nearing 80%. While unmanned aerial vehicle weapon systems increasingly play a leading role in the defense industry, it has also become indispensable as an asymmetrical power element that will change combat concepts.
Within this scope, Akıncı UCAV's ability to carry payloads for reconnaissance, surveillance, intelligence, electronic warfare, marking and attack missions at high altitudes and for long durations, as well as its infrastructure allowing air-to-air, air-to-ground smart ammunition launch attack missions, will reduce the operating needs and costs compared to manned systems that can perform the same task. It will facilitate some of the tasks of our combat aircraft thanks to its advanced technical capabilities, and thus contribute greatly to the operational and striking power of our army.”
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of National Defense Hulusi AKAR stated that they were proud of the successful completion of another high-tech project by the domestic and national defense industry. Pointing to the high-tech UAV/A-UAV and UCAVs developed and produced as a result of important and critical steps taken in the defense industry in recent years, Minister AKAR said, “Even though Turkey is not the first country that develops the UAV/A-UAV system, it has transformed this technological breakthrough into a force multiplier by producing it with its own means, and the Turkish Armed Forces has successfully utilized the outcomes of these efforts in the operational field. A-UAVs, developed by Turkey and equipped with its own ammunition, have enabled us to achieve significant success in a short time in the fight against terrorism and in the operations conducted in the north of Iraq and Syria. Similarly, Turkish-made weapon systems used in Libya and Azerbaijan thoroughly changed the course of the operations. Here, I would like to especially express that our weapon systems and smart and precision ammunition, which we produce domestically and nationally, play a significant role in the execution of our operations without causing any harm to innocent civilians, the environment, historical and religious structures. The success of our weapon systems in the operational field has attracted the attention of the whole world, and the demand for our domestic and national industrial products has increased gradually.” Minister AKAR stated that the most concrete example of this was the number of about a hundred agreements and MOUs signed recently, with several countries and companies during IDEF 2021, and added, “With the contribution of such agreements, Turkey strengthens its position in international markets.”
Minister AKAR considered it extremely important that Turkey started to develop UAV technology at an early stage and said: “Our country has reached a level that produces and develops technology and has strengthened its power by eliminating foreign dependency in the defense industry to a large extent. We were purchasing even our infantry rifles from abroad in the past, today we design, produce and export our national infantry rifles, all our light weapons, smart precision ammunition, Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers, Fırtına howitzers, UAV, A-UAV and UCAVs, our ATAK helicopters, frigates and warships. We are confident that the Turkish defense industry, which has come to a point, incomparable with the past, will produce our National Combat Aircraft and air defense system in the near future, following the UAV, A-UAV and UCAVs, with the experience it has acquired. The breakthroughs and achievements we have made in the defense industry with domestic and national understanding have been a source of pride not only for our nation, but also for friendly and brotherly countries. I would like to express my gratitude to our President for his firm attitude, leadership and support in the development of our domestic and national defense industry. I would also like to thank all the executives and employees of BAYKAR, who contributed to the production of these strategic weapon systems.”
President Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN, in his speech at the ceremony, said, “We are here today on the occasion of the delivery of Akıncı Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle, the new symbol of Turkey's engineering capabilities and the new representative of our independence in the sky. We are including Akıncı, one of the world's most advanced UAVs in its class, in the inventory of our Turkish Armed Forces. Together with Akıncı Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle, Turkey has become one of the three most advanced countries in the world in this technology. Baykar's journey that started with the mini-UAV weighing 6 kg in 2005 has now reached the 6-ton Akıncı UCAV, the critical systems of which from its electronics to its mechanics and software, were designed and developed domestically and nationally.”
President ERDOĞAN said that Akıncı is capable of performing some of the tasks performed by combat aircraft with its advanced artificial intelligence systems and the ability to launch cruise missiles, and added, “Turkey has risen to the world’s top three in combat UAV technology. Our next goal is to develop A-UAVs that can take off and land on our own aircraft carriers with short-runways. By achieving this, we will hopefully have the competence to use our A-UAVs in overseas missions.”
ERDOĞAN: “Our 125 Successful Trainees Will Take Roles in Akıncı's Critical Missions”
Emphasizing that they will transfer this experience gained in the defense industry to technologies in the civilian field and achieve much greater success, President ERDOĞAN said, “In the field of software, Turkey will become a country admired by all. We will be a country that blazes the way in artificial intelligence, unmanned and autonomous technologies.”
President ERDOĞAN said that they have included Akıncı UCAV to the inventory of the security forces and that the personnel who will use Akıncı have completed their training. “Our 125 successful trainees, including UAV pilots, payload operators, mechanical engine technicians, electronics and weapons technicians, will take roles in critical missions of Akıncı. I wish in advance success to all those who will take part in this critical mission.”
Following the speeches, trainees who successfully completed the Akıncı UCAV training, which was conducted in 7-20 weeks under 5 main branches, were given their awards by President Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN. Akıncı UCAV, the first to enter the inventory, was presented by Baykar CEO Haluk BAYRAKTAR, in the presence of President ERDOĞAN, to the President of Defense Industries Prof. İsmail DEMİR. After the delivery, Haluk Bayraktar presented a model of Akıncı to President Erdoğan. After the completion of the delivery and training completion ceremony, President ERDOĞAN watched Bayraktar Akıncı UCAV's flight demonstration. At the Ground Control Station, where Akıncı's flight crew performs their duty, President ERDOĞAN took the pilot seat and commanded Bayraktar Akıncı UCAV for a while, during its flight in the sky.
Development activities for the Akıncı UCAV were initiated in 2017 and the first flight was conducted on December 6, 2019. The Akıncı UCAV has been included in the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces as a game-changing platform, after nearly a four year rigorous test and development stage, with a 6-ton take-off weight and approximately 1.5-ton payload capacity
