Bull’s eye: Turkish combat drone Akıncı test-fires new-gen guidance kit
Türkiye’s landmark combat drone has undergone a firing test with a new generation guidance kit, achieving yet another milestone in the integration process of domestically manufactured precision guidance systems and ammunition.
Akıncı hit the target with high precision with a 1,000-pound (about 455 kilograms) MK-83 bomb equipped with the guidance kit named Gökçe after taking off from a flight training and test center in northwestern Tekirdağ’s Çorlu district.
“Bull’s Eye,” wrote Selçuk Bayraktar, chief technology officer (CTO) of Akıncı developer Baykar, as he shared a video of the test on Twitter.
Developed by TÜBITAK SAGE, the new generation guidance kit engaged to the target that Akıncı illuminated with a laser from an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,096 meters), marking its first test on an unmanned aerial vehicle.
It comes just days after Akıncı successfully test-fired Türkiye’s first air-to-ground supersonic missile, the TRG-230, after hitting a target at a distance of over 100 kilometers (62 miles).