Türkiye claims 65% global advanced UAV market as its next-gen Kızılelma drone enters mass production
August 6, 2025
Türkiye’s Baykar has started mass production of its Kızılelma combat unmanned fighter drone, as the country lays claims to a two-thirds market share. The Kızılelma drone is set to operate from Türkiye’s new UAV carrier, and may one day fly with 6th-generation fighters.
Kızılelma combat drone enters mass production
Kızılelma is a new-generation single-engine, low-observable, carrier-capable, jet-powered unmanned fighter. It is part of the Turkish counterpart to the United States Air Forces’ Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme. Later variants are planned to be supersonic and twin-engined.
According to Ukraine’s Ukrainska Pravda, Chairman of the board at Baykar, Selçuk Bayraktar, stated that the advanced Kızılelma combat drone is now entering mass production. The aircraft is set to enter service with Türkiye’s Armed Forces in 2026.
The article says the sixth prototype is already on the production line and is Türkiye’s first multi-purpose fighter drone. The Kızılelma is one of the options under consideration for the loyal wingman drone for the GCAP/Tempest 6th-generation fighter jet being developed by the UK, Japan, and Italy.
The Kızılelma is a formidable machine, built for stealth and advanced connectivity. It features:
- Satellite control
- Fully autonomous takeoff and landing
- Low radar cross-section
- High maneuverability
- Beyond LOS (BLOS) controlled
- AESA radar
- Internal weapons bays
Türkiye is currently developing a high-end fighter jet (the Kaan), an advanced trainer, multiple high-end combat drones, and several helicopters, including the ATAK-2 heavy attack helicopter.
Türkiye’s pivotal role in combat drone production
Local reports suggest that, as of 2025, Türkiye occupies 65% of the global unmanned aerial vehicle market. It claims to be the first country in the world to mass-produce UAVs.
Ukrainska Pravda added that, “Bayraktar also emphasised that the future of aviation lies in robotic swarms of drones and the development of unmanned combat systems.” It is unclear if that market share specifically refers to the export market or not.
It should be noted that the types of Ukrainian and Russian drones currently seen on the battlefield are very different. Those are mostly one-way-attack drones, small FPV drones, and, increasingly, interceptor drones (like former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s mysterious drones). Advanced combat drones like the Kızılelma and those developed for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme are a different proposition.
Israel was an early leader in drones, with its Heron drones being popular in the 2000s. During the Global War on Terror, American Predator drones became iconic, carrying out surgical strikes on targets around the world.
In 2022, Turkish-built Ukrainian TB2 Bayraktar drones became famous as they wreaked havoc on Russian forces in the initial days of the invasion before quickly becoming obsolete in that conflict.
Before Ukraine, Turkish drones had already played less-publicised but pivotal roles in Syria (2016), Libya (2019-2020), and the Nagorno-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan (2020). On each occasion, Turkish-built drones devastated the opposing side.
The surprising Ukrainian connection
Remarkably, the Kızılelma is equipped with a modified Ukrainian AI-322F turbojet engine produced in Zaporizhzhia and co-developed by Ukraine’s co-developed by Ivchenko Progress and Motor Sich. When the contract to supply the engines was signed in 2021, Ivchenko Progress stated, “Ukraine is one of the 6 countries that can produce engines from start to finish.”
The engine production is located near the frontline and has repeatedly come under Russian attacks. The engine family also powers the Chinese Hongdu JL-10 (Hongdu L-15 Falcon) supersonic advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft.
While Ukraine has placed an export ban on weapons since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is still supplying Bayraktar with turbojets. Ukraine was an aviation powerhouse of the USSR and is home to Antonov, the company that built the largest (An-225 Mirya, now destroyed) and second-largest (An-124 Ruslan) military transports in the world.
