AKINCI and TB2 landed on the highway, not the runway

Baykar's AKINCI and Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs landed and took off on the Manisa-Balıkesir Highway within the scope of work for emergency situations where the runways cannot be used. The exercise was carried out on November 12 under the coordination of the Ministry of National Defense, General Directorate of Highways and Baykar. Thus, it was demonstrated on the field that national platforms can operate without being tied to the runways.

According to Baykar's statement, this is the first application of field work initiated for uninterrupted duty in cases where runways cannot be used. Field investigations were carried out at different points in Türkiye and the highway was used as a runway in line with the determined routes.

They departed from three different bases and met at the same point.

During the exercise, three national aircraft taking off from different bases met at the same point:

A Bayraktar TB2 departing from Keşan, used by Baykar in training and testing activities.

An AKINCI taking off from Çorlu

A Bayraktar TB2 departing from Izmir, in the inventory of the Land Forces Command.

All three aircraft landed on the Manisa-Balıkesir Highway and took off again from there. Baykar also shared images of the exercise.

Planning will not be limited to this. The operational concept created for emergency response scenarios is being expanded to include all unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Baykar.

KIZILELMA and TB3 will also land on the highway

According to the planning, all of Baykar's national platforms, including Türkiye's first national unmanned warplane KIZILELMA and Bayraktar TB3, which can take off and land from ships with short runways, are aimed to be able to land and take off on suitable land routes.

Security measures taken during the exercise

Fire brigade and ambulance teams stood ready throughout the work. Safety measures on the highway line were taken by Manisa Governorship, Provincial Gendarmerie Command and Provincial Police Department. Drill; It was also monitored on-site by the force commands within the Turkish Armed Forces, the General Directorate of Security, the Gendarmerie General Command and the Coast Guard Command teams.

Baykar's export table

Baykar, which carries out its projects entirely with its own resources, became the world's largest exporter in the unmanned aerial vehicle segment in 2025. The company renewed its record with exports of 2.2 billion dollars in 2025, and has been generating 90 percent of its revenues from exports in recent years.

Baykar signed export agreements with 37 countries for Bayraktar TB2 and 16 countries for AKINCI, for a total of 40 countries. The company alone achieved one-third of the defense and aerospace sector's exports in 2023 and one-quarter in 2024.