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Turkish Akinci Drone Demonstrates Precision Strike Using Three Distinct Guidance Technologies.
The Bayraktar AKINCI unmanned combat aerial vehicle has completed live-fire tests using three different Turkish-made precision guidance technologies, according to an announcement by Baykar on December 26, 2025. The results underline the platform’s evolution into a mature multi-weapon UCAV as Türkiye expands its indigenous strike and export capabilities.
On 26 December 2025, Baykar announced via its official X account that the Bayraktar AKINCI unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) had successfully completed live munition firing tests with three Turkish-made precision weapons: the MAM-T smart munition, the LAÇİN-82 guidance kit and the TEBER-82 Winged Guidance Kit, all achieving what the company described as “bull’s eye” hits. Shared first on social media by Baykar, these firings confirm that AKINCI can now employ a broad family of Roketsan-guided munitions, from lightweight stand-off weapons to winged 500 lb class bombs. The tests come as Türkiye continues to consolidate its position in the UCAV domain, where indigenous drones and munitions are a central component of its deterrence posture and export strategy. The announcement signals that AKINCI is transitioning from a platform in incremental qualification to a mature, multi-weapon system integrated with the latest national guidance technologies.
Bayraktar AKINCI combat drone scored bull’s eye hits in live-fire tests using three Turkish-made precision guidance systems, showcasing a newly expanded, multi-weapon strike capability (Picture Source: Baykar Technologies / Roketsan)
The firing campaign builds directly on the technical characteristics of Bayraktar AKINCI, a high-altitude long-endurance UCAV designed as a “strategic class” platform. According to Baykar, AKINCI has a maximum take-off weight of 6,000 kg, a payload capacity of 1,500 kg, an operational range of about 6,000 km and an endurance exceeding 24 hours, with a service ceiling around 40,000 ft. Powered by twin turboprop engines and equipped with satellite communications, the aircraft can carry a mix of electro-optical/infrared sensors, synthetic-aperture radar, electronic support and warfare pods and a wide array of air-to-surface and air-to-air weapons on multiple hardpoints. Previous test campaigns have already demonstrated AKINCI’s ability to fire various precision munitions, including LGK/TEBER-82 guided bombs and the supersonic İHA-122 missile, against land and sea targets.
The latest series of tests adds a new layer: the simultaneous integration of MAM-T, LAÇİN-82 and winged TEBER-82, three complementary Roketsan solutions that together give the UCAV a more diversified and flexible strike profile. By combining in a single firing campaign a laser-guided stand-off munition (MAM-T), an imaging infrared and data-linked glide bomb (LAÇİN-82) and an INS/GPS plus laser-guided winged kit (TEBER-82), the tests demonstrate that AKINCI can employ, from one platform, the full spectrum of Türkiye’s laser-, GPS/INS- and man-in-the-loop-guided munitions, which is what makes this series of trials particularly significant.
Developed by Roketsan as the heaviest member of its Mini Akıllı Mühimmat (MAM) family, MAM-T is a smart micro munition optimised for UAVs and light attack aircraft. According to official figures, MAM-T has a diameter of 230 mm, a length of 1.4 m, a weight of 95 kg and a range of more than 30 km when launched from UCAVs, with greater ranges from faster aircraft. The munition uses a laser seeker and can be equipped with blast-fragmentation or thermobaric warheads, enabling engagement of armoured vehicles, radar and communication sites, infrastructure and small naval units. Fired from AKINCI, MAM-T provides a relatively light stand-off weapon that can be carried in significant numbers, allowing multiple precision engagements from a single sortie while keeping the UCAV outside the envelope of many short-range air defence systems.
Operational experience with earlier MAM variants (MAM-C and MAM-L) in Syria, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine has already shown how these munitions can be used to neutralise artillery, armour and logistics nodes at relatively low cost. By moving to MAM-T on a higher-payload platform like AKINCI, Turkish planners gain a longer-range, heavier-warhead option that remains compatible with existing tactics, training and logistics developed around the MAM family.
The LAÇİN-82 guidance kit adds a different but complementary capability. LAÇİN is a smart guidance kit designed to be fitted to MK-82 general-purpose 500 lb bombs, transforming them into precision glide weapons. According to Roketsan, the kit combines an imaging infrared seeker with an inertial measurement unit and, in its latest form, a GPS receiver and a tactical data link, enabling “man-in-the-loop” control via the dedicated L-POD. Technical documentation gives LAÇİN a range of up to 90 km when released from fast jets and about 50 km from UAVs, depending on release conditions. The data link allows the operator to monitor the image from the seeker head, refine the bomb’s trajectory during flight and, if necessary, retarget to another object of opportunity.
On AKINCI, this translates into the ability to deliver controlled, imaging-guided glide bombs against fixed and relocatable targets from significant stand-off distance, while keeping a human operator in the decision loop until the terminal phase. In tactical terms, LAÇİN-82 enables precision strikes against hardened positions, command posts or air defence sites, particularly when used in coordination with other drones or manned platforms providing target acquisition and battle damage assessment.
TEBER-82 completes the triad as a modular guidance kit for MK-82 bombs that adds both navigation and, in some versions, winged gliding capability. Roketsan describes TEBER as a high-precision guidance kit that integrates an inertial navigation system, GPS and a semi-active laser seeker, with an optional proximity sensor, to enhance the strike performance of MK-81 and MK-82 general-purpose bombs. In its standard winged configuration, TEBER-82 offers ranges of around 28 km from fighter aircraft and approximately 13–30 km from UCAVs, depending on the specific wing kit and release conditions, with a circular error probable of around 3 m when using laser guidance.
Recent tests reported in Turkish media have highlighted extended-range TEBER-82 variants with larger wings, potentially allowing ranges of up to 50 km from UCAVs and even 100 km from fighter jets, bringing them into a similar class to other long-range glide kits. AKINCI has already been used as a testbed for dropping winged TEBER-82 and similar kits, including sea-target trials; the latest Baykar video showing “bull’s eye” impacts confirms that these capabilities are now part of a coherent weapons suite rather than isolated demonstrations.
Beyond the technical integration work, this new firing sequence has clear operational and strategic implications for Türkiye and for countries considering AKINCI as part of their force structure. On the operational level, combining MAM-T, LAÇİN-82 and TEBER-82 on a single, long-endurance UCAV allows planners to design layered strike packages: MAM-T for relatively light stand-off attacks against mobile and semi-hardened targets, LAÇİN-82 for man-in-the-loop engagements of critical nodes at extended range and TEBER-82 for heavier warheads against hardened infrastructure or area targets. In a contested environment, these weapons can be employed sequentially to suppress radars, command posts and logistics hubs while AKINCI remains outside many ground-based threat rings, especially when operating in conjunction with other drones and manned aircraft.
On the strategic level, the tests underline Türkiye’s determination to field an almost fully indigenous kill chain, from platform and sensors to guidance kits and warheads, at a time when access to foreign subsystems is often constrained by political considerations. This autonomy strengthens Türkiye’s export position: by offering a UCAV like AKINCI together with a complete catalogue of national munitions, Ankara can market not just an aircraft but a full precision-strike ecosystem to partners in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Africa and Asia, many of whom are seeking cost-effective ways to expand their long-range strike options without relying solely on crewed combat aircraft.
By successfully employing MAM-T, LAÇİN-82 and TEBER-82 Winged Guidance Kits from the Bayraktar AKINCI with repeated “bull’s eye” results, Baykar and Roketsan demonstrate that Türkiye’s UCAV and precision-guided munition ecosystem is entering a new phase of maturity. The tests confirm that AKINCI is no longer just a high-end surveillance and limited-strike platform, but a central node in a modular, scalable strike architecture built around national technologies. In a security environment shaped by the extensive use of drones and precision weapons, particularly in conflicts such as Ukraine, the ability to field a domestically produced UCAV capable of carrying both smart micro munitions and winged 500 lb class bombs gives Türkiye and its partners a flexible tool for deterrence, crisis management and, if necessary, sustained combat operations.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.