Breaking News: Türkiye’s TAI Şimşek-K Drone Makes First Rocket Ground Launch With Dual Target And Kamikaze Role
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On August 22, 2025, Haluk Görgun, President of the Turkish Defence Industry Agency (Savunma Sanayii Başkanlığı – SSB), announced that TUSAŞ or TAI, Turkish Aerospace Industries, had successfully carried out the first ground launch of the Şimşek-K drone using a rocket-assisted take-off system (RATO). Developed entirely with national resources, the drone now has the capability to operate both as a high-speed target aircraft and as a kamikaze system. This new achievement adds to Türkiye’s growing portfolio of critical defense technologies at a time when flexibility, deterrence, and rapid deployment are increasingly decisive. This innovation not only enhances operational realism in training but also provides Türkiye with a new tactical asset adaptable to future battlefield conditions.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The dual-role capability distinguishes Şimşek-K from earlier generations and similar systems abroad. In addition to its primary role as a target drone simulating high-speed threats, its kamikaze mode provides a combat function that can be decisive in asymmetric warfare (Picture source: TAI)
The Şimşek-K, which Army Recognition covered extensively during IDEF 2025, is the latest evolution of the Şimşek program initiated in 2012. The system is compact yet powerful, measuring 2.4 meters in length with a 1.5-meter wingspan, and a maximum take-off weight of 83 kilograms. It can carry payloads up to 18 kilograms, ranging from situational awareness cameras to radar cross-section enhancers. The drone reaches speeds of Mach 0.63, can operate at altitudes of up to 25,000 feet, and endures flights longer than 45 minutes within a datalink range of 150 kilometers and a total operational range exceeding 500 kilometers. With 35 liters of onboard fuel, the Şimşek-K combines long endurance with high maneuverability, while recovery is assured by a parachute system. Its flight control is fully autonomous, encrypted, and capable of mission updates in mid-flight, while emergency and automatic landing modes ensure operational safety.
The most significant step forward lies in the rocket-assisted take-off system. Traditionally, earlier iterations of Şimşek drones had to be launched from aerial carriers such as the Anka UAV or from specialized ground vehicles after acceleration. With the new RATO integration, the Şimşek-K can launch directly from a static position, whether hidden in a covered location on land or positioned aboard a naval platform. This advancement eliminates the need for complex infrastructure, reduces deployment time, and increases the element of surprise in combat use. For training, it ensures greater launch flexibility and higher sortie rates. For operational use, it transforms Şimşek-K into a system capable of waiting in readiness and launching instantly when needed, a feature with profound implications for survivability and effectiveness.
The development of Şimşek-K follows more than a decade of iterative improvements. Since its first trials in 2012, the drone family has steadily progressed, reaching a key milestone in 2020 when a Şimşek was successfully launched from an Anka UAV. Building on this experience, the new model incorporates greater payload flexibility, improved datalink security, and increased autonomy. Compared to many foreign equivalents, which often require heavy infrastructure and lack advanced encrypted telemetry, Şimşek-K combines affordability with sophistication. Its parachute recovery and modular payloads also reduce overall training costs and allow broader use scenarios, positioning it as a strong candidate for NATO and non-NATO operators seeking modern yet cost-effective target drones.
The dual-role capability distinguishes Şimşek-K from earlier generations and similar systems abroad. In addition to its primary role as a target drone simulating high-speed threats, its kamikaze mode provides a combat function that can be decisive in asymmetric warfare. Unlike traditional expendable drones, the Şimşek-K can be deployed discreetly, concealed for extended periods, and launched at the right moment without prior aerial detection. This complicates adversarial intelligence and surveillance efforts, as the system does not need to be carried by aircraft or visibly prepared on the ground before launch. Strategically, this elevates Türkiye’s deterrence capabilities and underscores its ambition to integrate versatility into all domains of unmanned systems.
Militarily, the new system grants Türkiye’s armed forces greater operational flexibility by blending training functions with combat readiness. Geopolitically, it reinforces Türkiye’s growing defense-industrial independence, reducing reliance on foreign suppliers of target drones while offering a potential export product to partners in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. In an era where high-speed threats, cruise missiles, and drones play a central role in conflicts from Ukraine to the Red Sea, Şimşek-K responds to the urgent global need for both effective simulation tools and deployable strike options.
This achievement demonstrates Türkiye’s capacity to innovate with indigenous technologies and align them with future defense requirements. By combining RATO ground-launch capability with dual-role missions, the Şimşek-K highlights the adaptability of Türkiye’s aerospace industry and its intent to remain at the forefront of unmanned systems. Compact, versatile, and strategically significant, the drone is more than an incremental improvement, it is a tangible step in reshaping the way unmanned platforms are launched, trained with, and ultimately employed on tomorrow’s battlefield.
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On August 22, 2025, Haluk Görgun, President of the Turkish Defence Industry Agency (Savunma Sanayii Başkanlığı – SSB), announced that TUSAŞ or TAI, Turkish Aerospace Industries, had successfully carried out the first ground launch of the Şimşek-K drone using a rocket-assisted take-off system (RATO). Developed entirely with national resources, the drone now has the capability to operate both as a high-speed target aircraft and as a kamikaze system. This new achievement adds to Türkiye’s growing portfolio of critical defense technologies at a time when flexibility, deterrence, and rapid deployment are increasingly decisive. This innovation not only enhances operational realism in training but also provides Türkiye with a new tactical asset adaptable to future battlefield conditions.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The dual-role capability distinguishes Şimşek-K from earlier generations and similar systems abroad. In addition to its primary role as a target drone simulating high-speed threats, its kamikaze mode provides a combat function that can be decisive in asymmetric warfare (Picture source: TAI)
The Şimşek-K, which Army Recognition covered extensively during IDEF 2025, is the latest evolution of the Şimşek program initiated in 2012. The system is compact yet powerful, measuring 2.4 meters in length with a 1.5-meter wingspan, and a maximum take-off weight of 83 kilograms. It can carry payloads up to 18 kilograms, ranging from situational awareness cameras to radar cross-section enhancers. The drone reaches speeds of Mach 0.63, can operate at altitudes of up to 25,000 feet, and endures flights longer than 45 minutes within a datalink range of 150 kilometers and a total operational range exceeding 500 kilometers. With 35 liters of onboard fuel, the Şimşek-K combines long endurance with high maneuverability, while recovery is assured by a parachute system. Its flight control is fully autonomous, encrypted, and capable of mission updates in mid-flight, while emergency and automatic landing modes ensure operational safety.
The most significant step forward lies in the rocket-assisted take-off system. Traditionally, earlier iterations of Şimşek drones had to be launched from aerial carriers such as the Anka UAV or from specialized ground vehicles after acceleration. With the new RATO integration, the Şimşek-K can launch directly from a static position, whether hidden in a covered location on land or positioned aboard a naval platform. This advancement eliminates the need for complex infrastructure, reduces deployment time, and increases the element of surprise in combat use. For training, it ensures greater launch flexibility and higher sortie rates. For operational use, it transforms Şimşek-K into a system capable of waiting in readiness and launching instantly when needed, a feature with profound implications for survivability and effectiveness.
The development of Şimşek-K follows more than a decade of iterative improvements. Since its first trials in 2012, the drone family has steadily progressed, reaching a key milestone in 2020 when a Şimşek was successfully launched from an Anka UAV. Building on this experience, the new model incorporates greater payload flexibility, improved datalink security, and increased autonomy. Compared to many foreign equivalents, which often require heavy infrastructure and lack advanced encrypted telemetry, Şimşek-K combines affordability with sophistication. Its parachute recovery and modular payloads also reduce overall training costs and allow broader use scenarios, positioning it as a strong candidate for NATO and non-NATO operators seeking modern yet cost-effective target drones.
The dual-role capability distinguishes Şimşek-K from earlier generations and similar systems abroad. In addition to its primary role as a target drone simulating high-speed threats, its kamikaze mode provides a combat function that can be decisive in asymmetric warfare. Unlike traditional expendable drones, the Şimşek-K can be deployed discreetly, concealed for extended periods, and launched at the right moment without prior aerial detection. This complicates adversarial intelligence and surveillance efforts, as the system does not need to be carried by aircraft or visibly prepared on the ground before launch. Strategically, this elevates Türkiye’s deterrence capabilities and underscores its ambition to integrate versatility into all domains of unmanned systems.
Militarily, the new system grants Türkiye’s armed forces greater operational flexibility by blending training functions with combat readiness. Geopolitically, it reinforces Türkiye’s growing defense-industrial independence, reducing reliance on foreign suppliers of target drones while offering a potential export product to partners in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. In an era where high-speed threats, cruise missiles, and drones play a central role in conflicts from Ukraine to the Red Sea, Şimşek-K responds to the urgent global need for both effective simulation tools and deployable strike options.
This achievement demonstrates Türkiye’s capacity to innovate with indigenous technologies and align them with future defense requirements. By combining RATO ground-launch capability with dual-role missions, the Şimşek-K highlights the adaptability of Türkiye’s aerospace industry and its intent to remain at the forefront of unmanned systems. Compact, versatile, and strategically significant, the drone is more than an incremental improvement, it is a tangible step in reshaping the way unmanned platforms are launched, trained with, and ultimately employed on tomorrow’s battlefield.
