Turkish guidance kit GÖKÇE passes test successfully

TEKİRDAĞ

The indigenous GÖKÇE guidance kit test-fired by Türkiye’s Bayraktar Akıncı unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has successfully hit the target with high precision during the test launch.

Within the scope of the Bayraktar Akıncı project carried out under the leadership of the Defense Industries Presidency (SSB), the integration of new domestically produced ammunition and systems continues to the drone developed by Baykar Technologies.

Accordingly, the test firing of the UAV was successfully carried out on Dec. 22 with the GÖKÇE new generation guidance kit developed by the Defense Research and Development Institute (SAGE) of the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBİTAK) - a national agency playing a leading role in the creation of a science and technology culture in Türkiye.

Akıncı took off from the flight training and test center in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ’s Çorlu district and hit the target with high precision with the 455-kilogram (1,000-lb) MK-83 bomb equipped with the guidance kit.

GÖKÇE, which hit the target that the drone marked with a laser from an altitude of 20,000 feet, was tested for the first time in an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Baykar has earned 75 percent of its total revenue from exports since the first time it started developing UAVs about 20 years ago. The company, which was the export leader in the defense and aerospace sectors in 2021, exported more than $1 billion to 18 different countries this year.

Export contracts were signed with five countries for Bayraktar Akıncı, while Bayraktar TB2 was exported to 27 countries in total.

On July 8, it broke an altitude record in Turkish aviation history by climbing up to 38,039 feet in its flight that lasted 25 hours and 46 minutes.

Akıncı, which has made 874 sorties in test and training flights so far, hit the targets with full accuracy in the firing test on July 5 with warhead ammunitions MAM-C, MAM-L and MAM-T.

The Turkish drones got worldwide fame amid the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War that broke out on Sept. 27, 2020, between Armenia and Azerbaijan.