Latest shipborne trials see Bayraktar TB3 conduct four sorties in a day from TCG Anadolu

Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturer Bayar announced on 23 April 2025 that it has completed further successful flight tests with a Bayraktar TB3 UAV off the Turkish amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu.

On 22 April a Bayraktar TB3 completed four sorties from TCG Anadolu as part of fully autonomous take-off and landing tests from the ship as it sailed in the Gulf of Saros off northwestern Turkey. The TB3 completed four take-offs and landings from the ship and, as with previous flight tests, the UAV took off using the ship’s ramp and was recovered without the use any landing assistance equipment. TCG Anadolu is 231 m long and features a 202.3×32 m flight deck.

During the tests Bakar said it also successfully tested the performance of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that supported the flight trials.

Prior to the latest shipborne tests Baykar also conducted successful live-fire trials with a Bayraktar TB3 armed with supersonic missiles. These trials, which took place on 25 and 27 March 2025, saw a TB3 successfully strike naval targets using UAV-122 missiles developed by Roketsan. During the 27 March test, the UAV successfully destroyed a 6×6 m camouflaged target with a low-altitude strike performed below line-of-sight. The target was laser-designated by a Bayraktar TB2 UAV in the air, demonstrating successful co-ordination capabilities between the two UAVs.

The Bayraktar UAV is 8.35 m long and features a foldable 14 m wingspan to facilitate shipborne operations. Equipped with a beyond-line-of-sight communication capability, the UAV is designed to conduct long-range intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike missions using smart munitions.

Baykar claimed what it billed as a landmark in naval aviation history on 19 November 2024 when a Bayraktar TB3 operating off TCG Anadolu became the first UAV of its class to take off from and then land back onto a short-runway vessel.

Baykar noted that so far the Bayraktar TB3 has logged a total of 1,016 hours and 42 minutes of flight time during its test flights. In a long-endurance flight test conducted on 20 December 2023, the company added, a TB3 remained airborne for 32 hours without landing, covering a distance of 5,700 km.