The Hellenic Air Force, thanks to its F-16 Viper and RAFALE fighters, as well as its excellent pilots, is a fact that dominates the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean at the present time against the aging Turkish Air Force.
The Turkish reaction to Greek air dominance
This has prompted the Turks to domestically upgrade their F-16s with the OZGUR program, while at the same time intensifying their efforts to acquire from the US 40 F-16 BLOCK 70s and 80 modernization kits for an equal number of their F-16 fighters .
In addition to the above, Turkey is proceeding with the construction of a multitude of UCAVs, USVs, mamikazi drones in order to change the balance of forces in the Aegean to its detriment.
However, the most worrying in our estimation is the fact of the deployment of the Bayraktar Kızılelma unmanned combat aircraft, after it performed flights with manned combat aircraft at the recent "TEKNOFEST 2023" exhibition held at Ataturk Airport from April 27 to May 1, 2023. .
"In the sky of Istanbul, the Kızılelma unmanned combat aircraft and the Akıncı attack drone flew together several times," Turkish media points out in a related article, pointing out:
Flight of Bayraktar Kızılelma, F-16 Solotürk fighter aircraft and F-5 aircraft together
The flights of Bayraktar Kızılelma, with Bayraktar Akıncı and the manned F-16 fighter every day during TEKNOFEST 2023, were highly acclaimed.
On May 1, the last day of TEKNOFEST 2023, the Turkish Stars, consisting of Bayraktar Kızılelma unmanned fighter aircraft, F-16 Solotürk fighter jet and F-5 jets, performed an unprecedented show this time, conducting a formation flight with fleet idea, which for the first time paid off.
These flight ideas, which can be described as the "dawn of a new era" in the history of world aviation, will also guide the air combat of the future.
The development and production activities of Bayraktar Kızılelma, the two prototypes of which have been successfully produced so far, continue.
Mass production of the national unmanned warplane is scheduled to begin in 2024.
First flight by TCG Anadolu in 2025
Bayraktar Kızılelma, is expected to start flight tests from TCG Anadolu ship in 2025. TCG Anadolu ship, Bayraktar Kızılelma and Bayraktar TB3 SİHA were visited by citizens at Istanbul Sarayburnu Port and Izmir Alsancak Port.
In this context, more than one hundred thousand citizens visited the TCG Anadolu ship, where Bayraktar Kızılelma and Bayraktar TB3 SİHA are located on the flight deck.
Bayraktar Kızılelma project, initiated by Baykar with 100% equity capital, started in 2021. Bayraktar Kızılelma, with the tail number of TC-ÖZB, rolled off the production line on November 14, 2022, transferred to Akıncı Flight Training and Test Center in Çorlu.
After successfully completing ground tests here, it made its maiden flight on December 14, 2022.
Bayraktar Kızılelma flew into the sky in a record time of 1 year and successfully completed flight tests in April.
Missions of Bayraktar Kızılelma
The Bayraktar Kızılelma will perform air-to-air combat with its AI capability along with air-to-ground missions. The Bayraktar Kızılelma unmanned combat aircraft will be a force multiplier for Turkey, thanks to its low visibility on enemy radars.
Bayraktar Kızılelma, which will be a platform that will revolutionize the battlefield with the ability to take off and land from short-range ships, will take an important role in overseas missions thanks to this ability and will perform strategic tasks to protect of the "Blue Homeland".
Bayraktar Kızılelma, which has a takeoff weight of 8.5 tons and a payload capacity of 1,500 kg, will also have high situational awareness with the national AESA radar, use all nationally developed munitions,
Baykar, whose export rate was 99.3 percent in contracts signed in 2022, exported $1.18 billion.
It is the largest exporter of the defense and aerospace industry, it has a turnover of 1.4 billion dollars in 2022.
Export agreements have been signed with 30 countries for Bayraktar TB2 SİHA and with 6 countries for Bayraktar Akıncı TİHA.
Air supremacy in the Aegean 2025-2028
If Turkey begins mass production of its unmanned "Kızılelma" fighter in 2024 and acquires 40 F-16 BLOCK70s from the US by then, its air supremacy in the Aegean will be gradually called into question from 2025 onwards until 2028, when the receipt of F-35s from the USA will begin.
This will be due to the combination of its combat aircraft with Kızılelma's unmanned combat aircraft and the rest of its drones, which will take over all kinds of missions that the Hellenic Air Force performs alone.
This is why we insist with dozens of our articles on the necessity of IMMEDIATEly acquiring UAVs, UCAVs, kamikazi drones, USVs, UGVs in large numbers from our country.
