ISTANBUL / ANKARA

Türkiye’s landmark beyond visual range air-to-air missile test with the Bayraktar KIZILELMA uncrewed fighter jet was interpreted by analysts as more than a technological milestone.

Defense experts said the achievement marked a major step in the country’s push for autonomous air combat capabilities with wider implications for regional power balances.

Bayraktar KIZILELMA, the country’s national uncrewed fighter aircraft, made aviation history by becoming the first of its kind to successfully carry out a beyond visual range air-to-air missile strike, according to a statement from the producer, Baykar, on Sunday.

“The successful engagement demonstrates a wide-ranging engineering chain, from sensor fusion and radar to flight control and missile systems, working in harmony on a single national platform,” said Haluk Gorgun, head of the Turkish Defense Industries Secretariat.

He said the achievement reflected Türkiye’s long-term aerospace vision and signaled a new level of maturity in its domestic defense ecosystem, adding that the milestone showed “we are now designing and producing an end-to-end national ecosystem of platforms, systems, and munitions.”

The test, conducted over the Black Sea near the Sinop province and reported Sunday, saw the aircraft track and destroy a fast-moving target jet with an indigenously developed Gokdogan missile, fired under wing.

The engagement was guided by Aselsan’s Murad AESA radar integrated into the UAV's systems.

Selcuk Bayraktar, Baykar’s chair and chief technology officer, said the KIZILELMA had “scored another first in aviation history” by destroying its target with a beyond visual range air-to-air missile.

Haluk Bayraktar, Baykar’s CEO, described the event as a turning point: “With a national aircraft, national radar, and national missile, we completed every link in the air-to-air engagement chain using fully domestic capabilities.”

“This pride belongs to our nation,” he stressed.

Mehmet Fatih Kacir, the industry and technology minister, echoed the sentiment, calling the success a global first and noting that Türkiye’s national technology capacity had reached a level capable of “rewriting the rules of air superiority.”

Aselsan, one of the leading companies in the sector, emphasized its contributions through various mission-critical systems, including radar seeker heads, national identification systems, and communication tools.

Roketsan, another leading company in the sector, also hailed the test as an event that could “reshape the rules of aerial combat.”

The test drew attention both domestically and internationally, with praise from global defense observers highlighting the strategic implications of the achievement.