“We have signed the first export agreement for Bayraktar KIZILELMA with Indonesia,” Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar said at the signing ceremony, announcing a framework deal that makes Indonesia the global launch customer for the company’s jet-powered unmanned combat aircraft.
Baykar and PT Republik Aero Dirgantara sign at SAHA 2026 — 12 aircraft, deliveries from 2028
On 6 May at the SAHA 2026 exhibition, Baykar Defence and Indonesia’s PT Republik Aero Dirgantara (Republikorp) signed a framework agreement for the export of 12 Bayraktar KIZILELMA unmanned combat aircraft (UCAVs) to the Indonesian Armed Forces, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2028. The agreement includes options for four additional squadrons — a further 48 aircraft — which would increase Indonesia’s potential KIZILELMA fleet to 60 units. Financial terms were not disclosed. Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar confirmed serial production of the KIZILELMA was completed in 2025, and that Turkish Air Force induction was targeted for 2026.
KIZILELMA platform: airframe, engine and performance numbers
The KIZILELMA first flew on 14 December 2022. Baykar’s production variant is a single‑engine, canard‑delta platform with a maximum take‑off weight of 8,500 kg and a 1,500 kg payload capacity. Baykar lists a 500‑nautical‑mile combat radius, a maximum speed of Mach 0.9 and a service ceiling of 45,000 feet. The production aircraft is powered by the Ukrainian Ivchenko‑Progress AI‑322F afterburning turbofan, an engine Baykar ordered from Motor Sich in 2021; the AI‑322F is rated at 24.5 kN dry thrust and 44 kN with afterburner.
Sensors, weapons integration, and manned‑unmanned teaming
Baykar has positioned the KIZILELMA as a low‑observable strike and air‑combat asset. The platform features an Aselsan active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, internal weapons bays and an infrared search‑and‑track (IRST) system. Weapons integration testing has included the GÖKDOĞAN beyond‑visual‑range air‑to‑air missile (BVRAAM), the TOLUN‑P small‑diameter bomb and the TEBER‑82 laser/GNSS‑guided bomb from external hardpoints.
Baykar designed the KIZILELMA for manned‑unmanned teaming as a “loyal wingman” to manned fighters. In Indonesia’s case the source ties the KIZILELMA to the KAAN fifth‑generation fighter program, noting the KIZILELMA would pair with KAAN fighters in forward sensor, electronic attack and weapons‑carrier roles.
Local production, MRO, workforce development and joint research
The framework agreement extends an existing Baykar–Republikorp joint venture signed in February 2025 that covered local production of the Bayraktar TB3 carrier‑capable drone and the larger Bayraktar AKINCI in Indonesia. The KIZILELMA arrangement adds maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities, workforce development, technical certification of Indonesian personnel and joint research into autonomous systems. The KIZILELMA will be the fourth distinct Baykar platform in Indonesia’s procurement pipeline, following the TB2, AKINCI and TB3 — a relationship the source describes as among the most diversified single‑supplier partnerships in Southeast Asian defence procurement.
Broader Turkish–Indonesian defence cooperation and ASELSAN contracts at SAHA 2026
The KIZILELMA deal links to wider Turkish–Indonesian cooperation on the KAAN fighter, missile systems, sensors and autonomous combat technologies. The source notes that Indonesia signed a contract for 48 KAAN fighters from Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) at IDEF 2025 in July, making Indonesia the first international customer for that program. Separately at SAHA 2026, Turkish defence electronics firm ASELSAN signed two contracts with Indonesian authorities for payloads for unmanned naval vehicles destined for the Indonesian Navy and mission‑critical communications systems for the Indonesian Armed Forces. Those ASELSAN contracts were signed by ASELSAN Deputy General Manager Özgür Taylan Sarı and PT Republik Director Ivandry Febriando Sitepo.
What this means for the Indonesian Armed Forces, PT Republik Aero Dirgantara, and Baykar
- Indonesian Armed Forces: The framework commits Indonesia to receive 12 KIZILELMA UCAVs starting in 2028, with options that could expand the fleet to 60; the source frames the KIZILELMA‑KAAN combination as providing a force‑multiplication capability not currently fielded by other Southeast Asian militaries.
- PT Republik Aero Dirgantara (Republikorp): Republikorp will be central to local production, MRO and workforce development under the agreement and the preexisting joint venture for TB3 and AKINCI production.
- Baykar Defence: Baykar enters its first export agreement for the KIZILELMA following completion of serial production in 2025, extending its footprint in Indonesia alongside multiple other Baykar platforms.
The agreement signed at SAHA 2026 ties aircraft, engines, sensors, weapons and industrial arrangements into a single package that begins deliveries in 2028 and carries options that could reshape Indonesia’s unmanned and manned‑unmanned force structure. The next concrete milestones in the record are the start of deliveries in 2028, the operational induction of KIZILELMA in Turkey targeted for 2026, and the ongoing implementation of local production and MRO capacity in Indonesia.
