With KIZILELMA's entry into service, relieving the load on the Air Force's F‑16s and F‑4s will of course be one of the most immediate and valuable benefits. Experts, however, say the platform will particularly enable far more effective use of domestically produced munitions.
"WILL TAKE ON SOME FIGHTER-JET MISSIONS"
Defense-industry expert Yusuf Akbaba first highlights that KIZILELMA will shoulder the burdens of many platforms.
According to Akbaba, in certain critical missions you must release your munitions from much higher altitude and at much greater speed. That constraint has historically steered planners toward using F‑16s or F‑4s in the inventory. Akbaba says KIZILELMA will now enter that equation — and he emphasizes that in such scenarios the unmanned system, rather than manned fighters, will be used.
Of course, there's also the cost factor. Frequent use of fighter jets increases their flight hours, leading to higher maintenance, repairs, and spare parts expenses. Yusuf Akbaba emphasizes that these costs are significant and highlights that KIZILELMA will bring clear advantages in this area as well.
"COLLABORATION BETWEEN KIZILELMA AND DOMESTIC MUNITIONS COULD USHER IN A NEW ERA"
Yusuf Akbaba makes an important aside at this point: he stresses that KIZILELMA won't merely reduce the burden on fighter jets and deliver financial savings. Instead, he argues, the partnership between the platform and locally produced munitions can open up qualitatively new opportunities for how Türkiye fields and deploys its weapons.
Akbaba points out that Türkiye ranks among the world's top three countries in air‑to‑ground munition variety, and explains:
"Our manned combat aircraft in the inventory were procured from other countries. Naturally, integrating a domestic weapon onto those aircraft is, first and foremost, subject to approval. Securing that approval alone isn't enough — you also need a long timeline and a substantial budget. Integration is far more difficult and costly than people think."
"When KIZILELMA arrives, that equation will change at its root. The aircraft and the missiles will both be entirely ours. We'll be able to integrate them in a very short time and at a fraction of the current cost. That will allow us to employ our wide range of air‑to‑ground munitions as we see fit. And the most important point: during a critical operation no one will be able to tell you 'no, you can't do that.' We will have removed operational constraints."
"KIZILELMA AND ANKA-3 COULD CARRY OUT JOINT MISSIONS"
Finally, Yusuf Akbaba reminds that there are some misconceptions in the public sphere suggesting Bayraktar KIZILELMA and TUSAŞ's Anka-3 are completely separate and independent projects.
He lays out a concrete scenario to show how the two programs could jointly accomplish critical missions:
"KIZILELMA and ANKA‑3 can be assigned different roles within a joint operation. Imagine an over‑sea enemy target… suppose you want to destroy the adversary's fleet before it moves toward you, or strike it before it reaches your waters."
''You could task ten ANKA‑3s, each loaded with different munitions, for that mission. If the enemy then sends air assets to intercept the ANKA‑3s, KIZILELMAs armed with air‑to‑air missiles would step in — eliminating the threat. These are perfectly plausible scenarios.''
"KAAN will also be added to the equation in the coming years. KAAN — or multiple KAANs — would hold back in the air behind the ANKA‑3s and KIZILELMAs and coordinate the entire operation. Türkiye will become one of the first countries to employ manned‑unmanned air platforms together." Akbaba says.
