A Bayraktar Akıncı combat drone. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
Turkey’s Bayraktar Akıncı combat drone has successfully test-fired a new supersonic, precision-guided missile, the head of drone manufacturer Baykar Defense, Selcuk Bayraktar, announced on November 16.
“Turkey’s first supersonic missile TRG-230-IHA, manufactured by the Roketsan company, has successfully struck its target at the distance of 100 kilometers,” the official said on Twitter.
The TRG-230-IHA is the air-launched version of the ground-based TRLG-230 missile. Baykar said that the new missile was fired by the Akıncı from an altitude of 7.62 kilometers during the live-fire test.
The ground-launched TRLG-230 has a range of 20-70 kilometers. However, the TRG-230-IHA will have a range of up to 150 kilometers.
The TRLG-230, which carries a high-explosive warhead that weights 42 kg, is guided by a GPS-aided inertial navigation systems and a semi-active laser seeker. In the test footage, the TRG-230-IHA didn’t appear to be equipped with the laser seeker. This means that the air-launched version may have a lower accuracy than the TRLG-230, which can hit a target with a circular error probable of two meters.
Still, the high-speed and long-range of the TRG-230-IHA should allow the Akıncı to attack fortified targets in well-protected areas from a safe distance.
The Akıncı, which has a wingspan of 20 meters, is one of Turkey’s largest drones. It has an operational range of 7,500 kilometers, an endurance of 25 hours and a service ceiling of over 12 kilometers. The drone was developed to carry out ISTAR [intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance] missions as well as C3 [command, control and communication] tasks and combat operations.
Turkey has been working to develop the stand-off attack capabilities of the Akıncı. Earlier this month, the drone test-fired Aselsan’s Miniature Bomb, also known as Tolun, which has a range of more than 100 kilometers.
