Bayraktar TB3

The Bayraktar TB3 is a medium-altitude long-endurance armed drone developed by Baykar and tailored for shipboard operation. It is a structural reworking of the company’s flagship TB2: the airframe carries folding wings, reinforced landing gear, and an upgraded powerplant so it can launch from a ski-jump ramp and recover on a short flight deck. The TB3 first flew in October 2023 and completed its maiden ramp-launched flight from the Turkish navy’s amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu in November 2024 — making Baykar the first manufacturer to put an armed fixed-wing UAV into service from a short-deck carrier.

The system’s reason for existing is the TCG Anadolu itself. The vessel was originally designed around the F-35B; when Türkiye was removed from the F-35 programme in 2019, Ankara redirected the ship into a drone carrier role, and Baykar built the TB3 to fill the resulting capability gap. The wings fold to compress the deck footprint, the undercarriage is rated for harder landings, and an indigenous Turkish turboprop provides the additional power needed to clear the ski-jump with a meaningful load. Endurance is quoted at 32 hours, ceiling at 30,000 feet, and payload at 280 kilograms across underwing hardpoints. The sensor fit and ground-control architecture are inherited from the TB2 line, including the company’s electro-optical and infrared turret and SATCOM-enabled beyond-line-of-sight control. The weapon family is shared with the rest of the Baykar fleet: the MAM-L, MAM-C, and MAM-T munitions from Roketsan, plus laser-guided Bozok and Cirit-class rockets.

Türkiye is the only confirmed operator. Initial deliveries to the Turkish Armed Forces began in 2024, with embarkation aboard TCG Anadolu the centrepiece of public demonstration. Baykar has indicated an intent to extend the TB3 across other short-deck platforms in the Turkish fleet and has publicly courted export customers; several Gulf and South Asian air arms have appeared in Turkish reporting, though no foreign sale has been confirmed at the time of writing. The drone has not yet been used in combat.

Development continues in parallel with the rest of the Baykar fleet. The same propulsion and avionics lineage sits beneath the company’s Kızılelma unmanned fighter programme, and Baykar has signalled further naval-tasked variants. Within the broader carrier-UAV field — until recently dominated by demonstrators rather than fielded systems — the TB3 occupies an unusual position: a production-standard armed drone built from the outset to fly from a ship rather than retrofitted to do so.