During a ground test, Baykar performed the afterburner test of the third prototype of its KIZILELMA unmanned fighter. TurDef previously discussed the possibility of the third prototype having the AI-322F afterburner turbofan engine, which, based on changes in the fuselage and other design improvements, will enable supersonic flight. The video of KIZILELMA’s third prototype (PT-3) igniting its afterburner has confirmed the predictions.
The third prototype was first spotted during a visit by the Saudi delegation to Baykar facilities. The design changes were spotted at that time. Some, but not all, include control surfaces and the fuselage on the external side. On the control surfaces, the flap arrangement was observed to be remade with two flaps instead of five on the wings. The vertical stabilisers have become larger and angled more uniformly with the fuselage’s sides.
The lower number of flaps might have been preferred to simplify the flight control. More importantly, the actuators for flaps and vertical stabilisers have been concealed, improving aerodynamics and reducing the radar cross section (RCS). Low RCS is among the primary goals for KIZILELMA’s production version.
The larger intakes will provide the needed airflow for the Ukrainian AI-322F afterburning turbofan engine, which has a maximum thrust of 44 kN on the afterburner. The previous engine, the AI-25TLT medium-bypass turbofan, has a lower maximum thrust of 16.9 kN.
In addition to performance-related improvements, room seems to be made for ASELSAN’s sensors like MURAD-200A AESA radar and KARAT-100 IRST.
