Following gains from wars in Libya, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Erdogan’s son-in-law builds supersonic drone

Turkey has started production of the ultrasonic “Red Apple” stealth UCAV

Baykar Defense is the company owned by Selcuk Bayraktar, son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a company that not only has amassed treasure after Turkey’s withdrawal from the F-35 program and Turkey’s entry into the wars in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, but continues to earn by selling drones in war Ethiopia and Ukraine, announced that it has started production of unmanned aerial vehicles with jet engine, single engine, stealth, supersonic, capable of carrying missiles under the name Bayraktar Kızılelma [ελληνιστί: Ερυθρό Μήλο]according to a statement from Erdogan’s son-in-law and technical director of the company.

“Bigger and more agile fish have entered the production line after three and a half years of development. This is an unmanned fighter aircraft, the Bayraktar Kızılelma. It is already on its way, stay tuned,” he said.

Along with the rapid development of technology, it is predicted that future air battles will be carried out with drones, in the doctrines of defense, which change with greater speed every day. In this context, the unmanned fighter aircraft Bayraktar Kızılelma will guide the idea of ​​future combat.

The Bayraktar Kızılelma, which can land and take off on small runways, such as the Turkish-built TCG Anadolu, which is currently conducting cruise tests, will play an important role in overseas missions.

Baykar aims to carry out the first Bayraktar Kızılelma flight test in 2023.

The Turks expect an increase in interest in defense systems

The head of the Turkish defense industry believes in increased customer interest as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet reported on Saturday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, the now-defunct head of the Defense Industries (SSB) presidency, Ismail Demir, said he believed Turkey would become a popular supplier of military equipment in the aftermath of the war. Noting the growing insecurity between the Baltic and Balkan countries, Demir said they were in “a period of awareness and preparation” to strengthen their defense capabilities.

Turkey has provided millions of military aid to the Ukrainian armed forces, a point that exports jumped over 5,000%! This package includes Ada class stealth corvettes and the Bayraktar TB-2 drone. Prior to the war, Ukraine operated about 20 TB-2s and has dealt some major blows to Russian invading forces despite some casualties.

Turkish officials have degraded any role in the way Ukraine uses TB-2 in action. Following the first drone strike on a separatist last October, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu said that he had no say in how Ukraine or any customer used its systems and the Ukrainian authorities then began to identify the system as “Ukrainian” versus Turkish.

Demir’s predictions echo previous positions in other countries in Europe, Asia and Africa to look at Turkish military equipment markets. Within NATO, Poland is the only other operator of the TB-2, while Latvia has hinted that it is interested for the platform. Kazakhstan has also expressed interest.

In Antalya, Demir was asked about plans for the Russian S-400 missile system. The missiles, delivered in 2019 and a source of US sanctions on Turkey, were tested in October 2020 and a second batch from Russia was in the works before the invasion. Asked about the status of the second batch, Demir said that everything remains under discussion: “We will think about their fate [των αμυντικών έργων] “when things calm down,” he said.

Petros Kranias