Turkey Showed A Secret Drone With AI That Picks Its Own Targets
- 15.05.2025, 18:51
What Bayraktar can do with brains.
Turkey has unveiled the modernized Bayraktar TB2, which has gained artificial intelligence. The new drone is capable of recognizing targets, making decisions in real time and working autonomously.
This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the portal of Turkey's leading drone manufacturer and Baykar's technical director and co-owner Selcuk Bayraktar.
The official release says the updated drone has already passed the first operational tests and set several records.
The main innovations are the installation of a turboprop engine and the integration of advanced artificial intelligence systems, which has contributed to a significant improvement in flight performance, increased autonomy and enhanced combat capabilities.
At the same time, analysts of the unmanned aerial systems market emphasized the fact that the Turks are testing the newest version of Bayraktar against the background of the fact that there was no preliminary information in open sources about such a serious modernization of this famous UAV, and all the improvements were kept secret.
According to the CTO and co-owner of Bayka, the new version of Bayraktar2, among other things, offers superior autonomous capabilities thanks to three new computers with advanced artificial intelligence.
What the updated Bayraktar is capable of
Thanks to the upgrade, the drone has gained the ability to perform visual navigation on the ground in the most difficult conditions of electronic exposure. And thanks to advanced artificial intelligence systems, it recognizes the terrain and can determine its own flight direction.
And moreover, the drone is able to independently analyze targets, carry out operations to detect and identify them.
The upgraded drone can perform autonomous takeoffs and landings, visually recognize runways, determine the most suitable flight paths, conducting dynamic route planning.
At the same time, thanks to a new powerful engine, high speed, outstanding altitude and high performance, the Bayraktar is able to fly in the most challenging conditions. During recent tests, the Bayraktar TB2T-AI set its own record by reaching an altitude of 9,250 meters.
Despite the increased takeoff weight and payload, the Bayraktar TB2T-AI also received an extended flight range: previously, the maximum continuous time in the sky was 27 hours.
Autonomous functions and smart navigation are now the "features" of this UAV.
What gives Bayraktar an artificial intelligence system
In case of emergency situations, the drone's intelligent system is able to automatically return the vehicle to base, which significantly increases the operational safety and survivability of the UAV.
In emergency situations, the drone can automatically return safely to base thanks to artificial intelligence-enabled systems. This feature of the Bayraktar TB2T-AI increases endurance and operational safety on the battlefield to the highest possible level.
The artificial intelligence system allows the vehicle to:
recognize terrain and navigate based on visual navigation;
identify and classify targets in real time;
automatically take off and land by recognizing runways;
plan a route dynamically, selecting optimal flight paths;
avoid the effects of electronic warfare systems.
Market analysts also noted that the main external difference of the updated aircraft is its wing tips: the old version does not have them.
The following design innovations are also among those embodied in the Bayraktar TB-2T-AI:
installed a new more powerful engine of its own design, previously stood "Rotax" with a capacity of 100 horsepower;
the payload increased from 100 kilograms by about 50-100%;
increased maximum speed from 220 to 300 kilometers and flight altitude from 8,000 to 9,500 meters;
three new computers have been added;
satellite communication system is still available, increasing the radius of control of drones from 150 to more than 1,000 kilometers;
three types of optoelectronic systems are available for customer's choice: Turkish, Canadian and German with production in South Africa;
the automatic takeoff and landing system is introduced.
It is worth noting the list of armament of these drones. Bayraktar TB-2T-AI will be able to carry the cheapest and simplest laser-guided MAM-C bombs with a range of 8 kilometers, weighing 6.5 kg and costing about 5 thousand dollars.
The main armament for these drones is determined by the MAM-L bomb weighing 22 kg and a range of 15 km: the drone can take at once four such cartridges. They are available in two versions: one with laser guidance, the other, more advanced, with television infrared guidance. The price is $10,000 per unit.
The newest type of weaponry is the Kemankesh miniature cruise missiles, which can be used to eliminate the threat of any short, medium and even long-range air defense systems. Weight 35 kg, range 200 km, homing head - television.
Operator can control the missile at a range of up to 50 km, and this figure want to increase to 100. The new version of the drone can take four such munitions at once, while the old one can take two.