Defense industry company Baykar, Turkey’s leading unmanned air vehicle (UAV) manufacturer, has revealed its vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone at the technology, aviation, and aerospace festival TEKNOFEST in Istanbul.
In an exclusive interview, Sohaib Abouzeid, working as project manager at Baykar, told DefenseHere that the purpose of the drone is to take off and land vertically on any platform.
“This is a brand-new product for Baykar,” he said. “It does not need a runway; it can take off and land from/on ships or difficult areas.”
Explaining the operation principle, Abouzeid noted that the VTOL UAV takes off vertically with its four electric motors, and then transitions to horizontal flight mood using internal combustion engine.
“Our cruise altitude is around 9,000 feet (nearly 2,750 meters); maximum altitude is 15,000 feet (around 4,570 meters).”
“It has a payload capacity of 5 kilograms and usually we carry gimbal with that,” he said.
The project manager described the major function of the drone as performing surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
“It has a communication range of 150 kilometers and endurance of around 12 hours; so, it can go for medium range and medium duration flights,” he said.
"Right now, we are still in testing and R&D phase; we are continuing our tests on the product and soon it will be available on the market,” he added.