Turkish company Baykar works on unmanned fighter jet.

Turkish company Baykar, well known for its UAVs such as Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci, has begun the conceptual design phase of a jet-powered UAS, as Combat Unmanned Aerial System (MIUS).

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“Combat Unmanned Aircraft System (MİUS) is the first time we share the conceptual design images of our project” the company tweeted July 20 (Picture source: Baykar)

The aircraft is set to be stealthy, fly at at least 40,000 ft altitude with up to 5 hours of flight time, at a cruising speed of 0.8 M and at a maximum speed of 1 M (speed of sound) It will carry 1,500 kg of payload; t could be equipped with air-to-air missiles, high-charge precision bombs and cruise missiles.

The unmanned fighter jet will conduct a multitude of military actions, such as strategic offensive, close air support (CAS), missile offensive, suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) and destruction of enemy air defenses (DEAD). The company also has tweeted official rendering of its aircraft during sorties from TCG Anadolu, Turkey’s first amphibious assault ship.

Turkey will  become one of the few countries to deploy combat drones from an aircraft carrier (Picture source: Baykar)

The MIUS will probably be equipped with a Ukrainian Ivchenko-Progress AI-25 propulsion engine and will be able to take off and land on the future LHD TCG Anadolu  alongside the Bayraktar TB3. It will be able to conduct operations autonomously thanks to artificial intelligence functions and to fly with existing F-16s and, later, with the future TAI TFX fighter jet.

The first flight of the prototype should take place in 2023 for the centenary of the Republic of Turkey.

The first flight of the prototype should take place in 2023 for the centenary of the Republic of Turkey (Picture source: Baykar)