Baykar Tests UAV-122 Supersonic Missile, Releases Precision Strike Footage

Turkish defense company Baykar announced the successful test of the UAV-122, a 122mm air-to-ground missile described as hypersonic, launched from a Bayraktar Akinci unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The missile was developed by Roketsan, Turkey's state-linked rocket and missile manufacturer, and the test footage released by Baykar shows a precision strike sequence. The announcement was reported via the Telegram channel @TRTArabi, the Arabic-language service of Turkey's state broadcaster TRT.

The Bayraktar Akinci, in service with the Turkish Armed Forces since 2021, is a twin-engine, high-altitude, long-endurance combat drone capable of carrying air-to-air and air-to-surface munitions, extending Baykar's product line beyond the widely exported Bayraktar TB2. Roketsan, founded in 1988, supplies short- and medium-range missile systems to Turkey's army, navy and air force, and has increasingly focused on precision-guided and hypersonic-class munitions as part of Ankara's push for a fully domestic weapons-production chain.

The test underscores the scale of Turkey's defense-industrial base, now a significant export sector supplying drones and missile systems to buyers across the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. Turkey maintains its largest overseas military installation, Camp Tariq bin Ziyad, in Qatar, hosting Turkish ground and air force personnel under a bilateral defense agreement dating to 2014, which makes Ankara's weapons programs a matter of direct interest to Doha's security planning. Baykar and Roketsan systems have both featured in Gulf defense-cooperation discussions and regional exhibitions, including Qatar's DIMDEX show.