Baykar UAVs & UCAVs Unmanned Systems

Baykar Flies TB2 as Launch Platform for Skydagger FPV Kamikaze Drones

Baykar flew a Bayraktar TB2 carrying 16 Skydagger FPV kamikaze drones out of the Keşan Flight Training and Test Center in Edirne province on November 4, releasing two of them in flight to strike designated targets, the company said in a press statement. It is the first time Baykar has publicly demonstrated the TB2 acting as an airborne launch platform for first-person-view attack drones, a role that puts Türkiye’s best-known unmanned combat aircraft directly into the low-cost drone warfare trend that has reshaped frontline combat since 2022.

What Baykar says happened

According to the company, the TB2 took off from Keşan carrying the full complement of 16 Skydagger FPV drones, then released two of them over the test range. The drones were “linked through the TB2” and flown by operators described as working “independent of the ground,” language that suggests the UCAV relayed control and video links rather than ground stations handling the FPV drones directly. Baykar says both drones hit their targets “with pinpoint accuracy.” The release gives no target type, distance, or altitude, and includes no figures on the FPV drones’ warhead size, speed, or terminal guidance.

This was a test flight, not a combat mission or an export demonstration for a named customer. Baykar has not said whether the TB2-Skydagger combination will become a standard configuration, enter serial use with the Turkish Armed Forces, or be offered for export.

Skydagger, Baykar’s drone-within-a-drone business

Skydagger is a Baykar-backed manufacturer that began producing FPV kamikaze drones in 2024, initially in 7-, 10- and 15-inch airframes before adding the larger Skydagger 15 Plus, which carries roughly 10 kg of munitions, and the smaller Skydagger Mini. The company has also built a fixed-wing kamikaze swarm drone, the Toyca-10E, and a counter-drone interceptor, Hunter, that has moved into mass production. Baykar general manager Haluk Bayraktar has said the FPV line’s production capacity has reached an annual rate of 120,000 units, with monthly output cited elsewhere at roughly 8,000 units and a target of 10,000 by the second half of 2026. Skydagger drones have reportedly been exported to more than a dozen countries.

Pairing Skydagger’s cheap, mass-producible FPV drones with the TB2 addresses a problem that has become familiar from the Ukraine war: a $5–10 million UCAV is far too valuable to risk on targets better suited to a $500 disposable drone. By having the TB2 carry FPV drones to the target area and hand off control once they are in range, Baykar is positioning the aircraft as a forward relay and extended-range launch node rather than the weapon itself — a loitering-munition delivery concept distinct from the glide bombs and standoff missiles the TB2 already carries.

Why it matters beyond the test range

The TB2 remains Baykar’s export workhorse: the company says it has signed Bayraktar TB2 agreements with 36 countries and Akıncı agreements with 16, and that exports accounted for roughly 90% of recent revenue on the back of $2.2 billion in 2025 sales, which Baykar calls the largest of any UAV maker that year. That export momentum has continued into 2026, with Türkiye’s defence exports up 61% in October alone. Any new mission set the company can demonstrate on the TB2 airframe — without a redesign or a new aircraft type — is a low-cost way to extend the platform’s relevance against cheaper competitors and to keep pace with how drone warfare is actually being fought, where swarms of expendable FPV drones have taken over roles once reserved for precision munitions.

It also reflects a broader pattern in Türkiye’s unmanned systems sector, where prime contractors increasingly pair with smaller, specialised drone makers rather than building every subsystem in house. ASELSAN’s TUFAN one-way-attack naval drone and its KILIÇ underwater strike line follow a similar logic at sea; the TB2-Skydagger pairing extends it to the air domain.

No contract, customer or delivery timeline is attached to this test. Whether the TB2-Skydagger combination becomes an operational or exportable package will depend on further trials Baykar has not yet announced.