Turkish company Baykar Defense is working on a new upgrade of the popular military drone Bayraktar TB2. This unmanned vehicle will be equipped with short-range missiles.

Bayraktar TB2 military drone. Image credit: Ministry of Defence of Ukraine via Wikimedia, CC-BY-4.0

According to limited reports, air-to-air missiles will be installed in Bayraktar TB2 and Akıncı UAVs. The main purpose of this development is to provide drones with the capability of countering other small flying systems, particularly kamikaze drones similar to Iranian-made models that are currently used by the invading Russian forces in Ukraine.

The news about this project was announced during the SAHA Expo defense exhibition in Istanbul by Baykar Defense CEO Haluk Bayraktar.

In order to be able to eliminate kamikaze drones and other air targets from its drones, Baykar wants to adopt the missile from the Sungur short-range complex developed by Roketsan. Both companies already signed a contract to integrate Sungur for use with UAVs.

The Sungur short-range missile launch platform entered the service with the Turkish military forces in 2020. This short-range air defense system uses a Portatif Savunma (PorSav) missile. From the technological perspective, it is almost analogous to the Stinger MANPADS. The main difference: the Turkish PorSav uses a homing head of its own production.

According to the manufacturer’s data, the Sungur launcher platform can fire PorSav missiles at a distance of up to 8 km at an altitude of up to 4 km. The minimum range is 500 m. It is also capable of automatic target tracking and is resistant to countermeasures.