DroneLedger

FIELD GUIDE / DRONE ATLAS / 01

Armed MALE drone · Reusable · armed ISR

Fixed-wing symbol

Bayraktar TB3

A folding-wing Turkish reconnaissance and strike drone designed for short-deck carrier operations. It is a distinct aircraft from TB2. Baykar’s current specification is paired with the Turkish defence ministry’s own account of the first Anadolu launch and recovery in November 2024. That flight milestone does not verify every endurance or payload claim.[1][2]

Design origin
Türkiye[1]
Research edition
Compare types ↗
14 m8.35 mTop view

Body length[1] · Wingspan[1]

8.35 m · Side view · schematic
Top-view bounding dimensions share one metre scale. Internal contours and side profiles are schematic; height is not inferred. Ranges show their largest outline and retain their labels.

Public-source profile. Performance claims are attributed; type links do not verify an incident identification.

also known as Bayraktar TB-3, TB3, Байрактар TB3

Public-source profile. Performance claims are attributed; type links do not verify an incident identification.

Press factsheet ↗Source-bound type data ↗

The numbers, with their sources

Intervals preserve the published bounds; they are not statistical confidence intervals. A blank lower or upper bound stays open. Values belong to the named configuration, not every aircraft.

Published flight range

Unknown in reviewed sources

Take-off mass

≤ 1600 kg[1]Bayraktar TB3 · current Baykar web table · Publication year unknown · consulted 2026-11-01
Published upper limit

Payload

≤ 280 kg[1]Bayraktar TB3 · current Baykar web table · Publication year unknown · consulted 2026-11-01
Published upper limit

Body length

8.35 m[1]Bayraktar TB3 · current Baykar web table · Publication year unknown · consulted 2026-11-01
Manufacturer claim

Wingspan

14 m[1]Bayraktar TB3 · current Baykar web table · Publication year unknown · consulted 2026-11-01
Manufacturer claim

Endurance

≥ 24 h[1]Bayraktar TB3 · current Baykar web table · Publication year unknown · consulted 2026-11-01
Published lower limit

Same-class research profiles · published range, km · open bounds remain open

DRONELEDGER / SCALE LAB

Turn the scale plane

A flat, schematic outline in perspective, not a 3D model. Only sourced length and span are scaled; height and internal geometry are unknown. For intervals, the upper endpoints are drawn.

Turn the scale plane · Bayraktar TB31 m
Human · illustrative 1.8 m · Bayraktar TB3 · current Baykar web table

8.35 m / 14 m[1]

Size in everyday terms

One scale. Different machines.

Top view
Bayraktar TB3 · 8.35 m / 14 mHuman reference · illustrative 1.8 m1 m
Side view · schematic
Bayraktar TB3 · 8.35 mHuman reference · illustrative 1.8 m1 m

Bayraktar TB3 · Bayraktar TB3 · current Baykar web table · Body length[1] · Wingspan[1]

Human height is an illustrative 1.8 m; bus length an illustrative 12 m. Car length uses the cited MINI specification. Vehicle heights and drone side contours are schematic. Top views preserve published length and span; an absent dimension is never guessed.

One car length here is 3.821 m: MINI Cooper 3 door, March 2020 specification.

In our archive

Not yet named as a model in this archive — sources usually say only “drone” or name the family.

Browse this category · Armed MALE drone

Where this type appears

Counts follow model/family links in the archive. A general register link does not identify a model.

Family & configurations

Bayraktar TB3

No sourced family relationship recorded in this edition. Similar roles do not establish a common design.

Form, sound & identification limits

  • Baykar now gives 1,600 kg MTOW and warns it may vary for the naval version. The 8.35 m length and 14 m span describe an unfolded envelope. A folded deck footprint is not inferred from those values.[1]
  • The ministry dates the first carrier launch and recovery to 19 November 2024. This is an operator-side original account, distinct from the maker’s technical table. A demonstration or exercise is not itself an archived attack.[2]
  • The 24+ hour claim remains an open lower bound. The 280 kg payload is capacity, not a standard explosive load. Neither TB2 nor Kızılelma performance is substituted for missing TB3 measurements.[1]

Shape or sound alone cannot identify a drone. Follow local public-safety alerts; do not approach wreckage.

No licensed, model-attested recording is available in our sound library.

What does it cost?

Published USD figures use different price bases and years. Airframes, export packages and support are not equivalent. These are not current offers or verified production costs.

Unknown in reviewed sources

Countermeasures in public analysis

No type-specific, independently supported summary is included in this edition.

Source notebook

  1. Baykar · Bayraktar TB3 current technical specifications

    Publication date not stated · Source consulted: 2026-11-01 · Manufacturer claim

  2. Ministry of National Defence of Türkiye · November 2024 briefing: first TB3 launch and recovery on Anadolu

    Publication date not stated · Source consulted: 2026-11-01 · Official report; not an independent test

    Consulted via search index; direct page unavailable

Cite this profile

DroneLedger. Bayraktar TB3. Research edition 2026-11-01. https://droneincidents.com/drones/bayraktar-tb3/

Permanent research edition