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By Vafa Ismayilova

The Bayraktar AKINCI assault drone, developed by the Baykar company with domestic and national resources, has broken the altitude record of the Turkish aviation history within the scope of the project led by the Defence Industry Ministry, Turkey's Yeni Shafak newspaper has reported.

As part of the design verification activities, AKINCI took off in the long flight and high altitude performance test held in the presence of the Defence Industry Ministry and official delegations and reached 38,039 feet (11,594 meters).

Thus, this height in the sky was reached for the first time with a nationally-developed UAV.

25 hours 46 minutes in the air

The Bayraktar AKINCI UAV stayed in the air for 25 hours and 46 minutes on this flight and reached 38,039 feet high. Within the scope of the long flight activity managed from the AKINCI Flight Training and Test Center in Chorlu, AKINCI traveled 7,507 km in the air. AKINCI, which has made 870 sorties in test and training flights up to date, has performed a total of 347 hours and 28 minutes of flight.

Successful shooting with warhead MAM-T

The Bayraktar AKINCI UAV successfully hit targets with the nationally-developed smart ammunitions MAM-C, MAM-L, and MAM-T, which were used for the first time, in the first firing test conducted on April 22, 2021. For the first time, warhead ammunition was used in the firing test carried out on July 5, 2021. In the shooting test with live ammunition, the ammunition fired from AKINCI hit the targets with full accuracy.

First flight on December 6, 2019

The Bayraktar AKINCI assault drone made its first flight on 6 December 2019. Tests were carried out with 3 Bayraktar AKINCI UAV prototypes at the Bayraktar AKINCI Flight Training and Test Center at the Chorlu Airport Command.

Mass production continues

As part of the Bayraktar AKINCI UAV project, the serial production process continues and the first deliveries are planned to be made in 2021. Test activities are continuing with Bayraktar AKINCI S-1 and S-2, the first aircraft of mass production and transferred to Chorlu. Integration studies of other mass-production models are carried out at the Baykar National S/UAV R&D and Production Center.

Bayraktar TB2 also broke a record

The nationally and originally developed Bayraktar TB2 UAV earlier set a record by climbing to a height of 27,30 feet.

During the demo flight it participated in Kuwait on July 17, 2019, the national UAV broke the flight time record by staying in the air for 27 hours and 3 minutes in difficult geographical and climatic conditions such as high temperatures and sandstorms.

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