A Baykar TB3 unmanned air vehicle (UAV) has successfully taken off from and landed on Turkey’s sole aircraft carrier.

The company posted videos of the work on social media, showing the single-engined turboprop UAV being raised to the TCG Anadolu’s flight deck aboard an elevator.

TB3 Starts takeoff Roll

Source: Baykar

The TB3 used the entire length of an empty Anadolu flight deck to take off

The aircraft starts its take-off run near the end of the flight deck and accelerates down the full length of the vessel before launching from the ski-jump.

The TB3 subsequently lines up and lands on the vessel. Unlike with conventional fixed-wing aircraft carrier operations, the TB3 does not use a tail-hook. The video shows it coming to a stop about three quarters of the way down the ship’s deck.

During both the take-off and landing the Anadolu’s flight deck is devoid of other aircraft, equipment and personnel.

The successful tests follow months of preparations, including launches from a ground-based facility equipped with a 12° ramp that simulates that found aboard Anadolu.

The TB3 is designed for naval usage and features folding wings, allowing for easier storage aboard a ship. Baykar indicates that the TB3 has undergone 823h of test flights.

In April 2023 Ankara commissioned the Anadolu, stating that the vessel would be the world’s first carrier to operate fixed-wing UAVs in the absence of fighter jets.

Baykar’s TB3 achievement follows a similar test in South Korea. On 12 November a short take-off and landing variant of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Gray Eagle took off from the South Korean navy’s ROKS Dokdo amphibious assault ship and land at a naval base some 170 miles (273km) away.

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