Fire Free - Baykar's Signature in 2026: Joint Mission with Autonomous Swarm and AESA Radar

In the Fire Free-2026 Exercise, Baykar's AKINCI, TB2, K2 and MOSQUITO systems showed off with their autonomous swarm and AESA radar integration.

Unmanned aerial vehicles and smart ammunition systems, developed nationally and indigenously by Baykar, one of the leading companies of the Turkish defense industry, played critical roles in the Free Fire-2026 Exercise. AKINCI TİHA, Bayraktar TB2, K2 Kamikaze UAV, MOSQUITO Smart Loitering Ammunition, Bayraktar KALKAN DİHA and KEMANKEŞ 1 Mini Cruise Missile took part in the exercise exhibited in the field in a coordinated manner. Real-time data sharing between platforms and network-centric warfare capabilities were successfully tested with the accurate destruction of targets.

One of the most striking stages of the exercise was the operation carried out by unmanned systems with swarm intelligence. Within the scope of the mission scenario, 5 K2 Kamikaze UAVs took off and distributed the data received from the ground control station to other elements in the air and assumed command and control of the herd consisting of 20 MOSQUITO Smart Loitering Ammunition.

10 MOSQUITOES, separated from the advancing ammunition group while maintaining the autonomous swarm formation in the air, performed simultaneous salvo dives on the designated targets. The field performance of loitering munitions that hit targets with high precision once again demonstrated the feasibility of future swarm doctrines in the field.

Bayraktar KALKAN DİHA, which has vertical take-off and landing capability, carried out the surveillance and target tracking duties in the operation field. BG-180 3E Three-Axis Stabilization Electro-Optical system, developed by Baykar engineers and actively used in the field for the first time, completed the instant detection and laser marking of targets in rough terrain conditions without any errors.

Two different Bayraktar AKINCI TİHAs taking part in the exercise demonstrated the versatile mission capability of the platform. AKINCI, which took off from the Flight Training and Test Center in Çorlu, detected air and land targets from long distances via the MURAD AESA radar developed with domestic facilities and provided target coordinates to other elements in the field.

The other AKINCI TİHA, which is in the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces, hit the marked points with high precision with the TEBER, TOLUN, MAM-L TV and MAM-T ammunition it carried under the fuselage and wing. Simultaneously, the artificial intelligence-based KEMANKEŞ 1 Cruise Missile, fired from the Bayraktar TB2 UCAV in the inventory, directly eliminated the determined strategic target. After the completion of the tasks, AKINCI and Bayraktar TB2 greeted the ceremony area with a greeting pass.

Results obtained within the scope of Fire Free-2026; It proves that unmanned vehicles with different altitudes, ranges and mission definitions can talk to each other over a single digital backbone. The entire chain, from autonomous swarm maneuvers to AESA radar tracking, from electro-optical targeting to long-range cruise missile firing, reduces the need for manned elements in the modern warfare field and increases operational speed and precision to the highest level.