Summary

  • Baykar’s TB2 drone performed first autonomous barrel roll.
  • Turkey is a leader in drone technology, with drones used in global conflicts.
  • Drones have revolutionized modern warfare, ranging from simple quad-FPV to advanced combat aircraft.

The Turkish military drone company Baykar has just announced that its Bayrakar TB2 drone performed the first autonomous barrel roll by a drone of this type. Turkey has become a world leader in drone technology. Turkish drones played a central role in the Turkish interventions in Syria, the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh War, Libya, the Ethiopian Civil War, and the first few days of the Russian Full Scale Invasion of Ukraine. It is now clear that drones (in their very diverse iterations) are changing modern warfare.

First combat drone to barrel roll

A video released by Baykar shows its Bayraktar TB2 drone performing a ‘barrel roll’ maneuver. This is claimed to be the first for an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). The Bayraktar TB2 is also celebrating 800,000 flight hours and is the longest-serving unmanned aerial vehicle in Turkey. Over 600 Baykraktar TB2 drones have so far been built and have been purchased by 32 countries around the world.

TB2 Bayraktar

The TB2 managed to rotate on its own axis three times in a row and helps demonstrate how far Baykar has come in its UAV development. Selçuk Bayraktar, Baykar Technology Chief Technology Officer, shared the achievement on Twitter, stating: ‘First UCAV in Aviation History to Perform Barrel Roll.’ Baykar heralded it as “The Golden Age of Turkish Aviation. The First Autonomous Barrel Roll Performed with an UCAV in the History of World Aviation.”

The use of drones has exploded in recent years, and the word is used (unhelpfully) to refer to everything from simple quad-FPV drones to America’s futuristic Collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) drone (or loyal wingman) for its next-generation NGAD fighter. It is unclear if the zombie F-16s (converted into autonomous aerial targets and loyal wingmen) have conducted barrel roles. The US Air Force even conducts dogfights between manned F-16s and unmanned zombie X-62A (modified F-16s).

QF-16 full scale aerial target

Photo: US Air Force

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Turkey: a world drone leader

Baykar has been developing medium drones that are able to loiter over the battlefield and fire missiles. According to Baykar, the TB2 is a “Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE), Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle capable of conducting Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and armed attack missions.” These have proved decisive in low-technology wars (such as in Ethiopia) but have proved vulnerable in peer wars like with Ukraine and Russia (where, after a startling initial success, most were shot down).

Ukrainian Navy TB2 Bayraktar

Baykar is also developing drones to operate from the Turkish TCG Anadolu. The TCG Anadolu is a large amphibious ship that carries helicopters and UAVs. Drones produced by Baykar also include the Bayraktar TB3, the Bayrakar AKINC, the Bayrakar KIZILELMA, the Bayrakar VTOL UAV, and others (as well as intelligent UAV-like cruise missiles).

Recently, the Iranians called on the Turks to help find the wreck of the crashed helicopter carrying the Iranian President. The Turks soon found the site with a Bayraktar AKINC drone.

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