Bayraktar Akinci.

Bayraktar AKINCI was developed by Baykar as a strategic unmanned combat aircraft capable of conducting missions beyond the traditional tactical-UAV role. The aircraft completed its maiden flight on 6 December 2019 and entered Turkish Armed Forces service on 29 August 2021. It is designed for operations over both land and maritime environments, combining long-range ISTAR functions with precision air-to-ground and air-to-air strike capabilities. The family comprises the AKINCI-A, AKINCI-B and AKINCI-C configurations.

The aircraft has a 20 m wingspan, 12.2 m length and 4.1 m height, with a maximum take-off weight of 6,000 kg and payload capacity of 1,500 kg. Published performance figures include a 30,000 ft operational altitude, 40,000 ft service ceiling, more than 24 hours of endurance and a 6,000 km operational range. Cruise and maximum speeds are stated as 150 and 240 KTAS respectively. During high-altitude testing on 21 June 2022, an AKINCI reached 45,118 ft, establishing Türkiye's national aviation altitude record while exceeding the platform's nominal published service ceiling.

AKINCI's modular mission architecture supports simultaneous electro-optical, infrared and laser-designation (EO/IR/LD) functions, a multi-mode AESA radar, signals-intelligence equipment and electronic-warfare support systems. Its weapons architecture accommodates laser-guided smart munitions, INS/GPS-guided and infrared-guided weapons, missiles, stand-off weapons, cruise missiles and air-to-air weapons. The ASELFLIR-500 electro-optical reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting system has been operationally demonstrated from AKINCI during live-fire testing against maritime targets. The platform is also designed to support anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and coastal-patrol missions.

A defining characteristic of AKINCI is its highly redundant flight-control and communications architecture. The system incorporates fully autonomous flight control, a triple-redundant autopilot, semi-autonomous flight modes, fault-tolerant triple-redundant sensor fusion, redundant servo actuators and a cross-redundant ground-control architecture. Autonomous taxi, take-off, cruise and landing are supported, including precision automatic take-off and landing independent of external ground-control systems. Command, control and video transmission are supported through redundant LOS links and SATCOM-based BLOS communications.

• Bayraktar AKINCI-A: Initial operational variant powered by 2 × 450 hp turboprop engines, providing 900 hp total. This was the first configuration to enter Turkish service. Baykar confirms that AKINCI-A has been introduced into the inventories of Turkish security forces and partner countries.
• Bayraktar AKINCI-B: Higher-powered operational variant equipped with 2 × 750 hp turboprop engines, delivering 1,500 hp total. It was developed to provide greater propulsion power and performance margin than the A model. AKINCI-B completed its first flight in March 2022 and is in operational inventories.
• Bayraktar AKINCI-C: Latest higher-powered variant fitted with 2 × 850 hp turboprop engines, producing 1,700 hp total. The C model completed flight and aerodynamic-parameter testing and is intended to offer increased propulsion capability within the AKINCI family. Baykar has publicly described it as the most powerful configuration of the three, but its official releases distinguish it from the already fielded A and B variants.