New Turkish-made TB3 drone flies for 27 hours uninterrupted

By Tolga Yanik

ISTANBUL (AA) — Turkish drone-maker Baykar on Friday announced that its new model of unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), the Bayraktar TB3, successfully stayed in the air for 27 hours.

Bayraktar TB3 remained in the air for 27 hours and 19 minutes without landing at a medium altitude in its 26th test flight at the Akinci Flight Training and Test Center in Türkiye's northwestern Tekirdag province.

During his 27-hour flight, the drone covered a total distance of 4,600 kilometers (2,858 miles) in the sky, Baykar said in a statement.

The TB3 is Baykar's latest aircraft, launched for the first time on Oct. 27 last year.

Besides reconnaissance, surveillance, and intelligence capabilities, the TB3 can conduct an assault operation with wing-mounted smart munitions.

Featuring foldable wings, it can be used on aircraft carriers to further enhance its range of operation.

It can be operated from very remote distances thanks to its Line-Of-Sight and Beyond-Line-Of-Sight communications capabilities.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar