By Bosphorus News Defense Desk
Bayraktar TB3 has carried out a firing test with Roketsan's CİRİT laser-guided missile, hitting its target and adding a lighter precision-strike option to the unmanned aircraft's growing payload profile for shipborne operations.
The test was shared by Baykar Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar, with Turkish reports saying the Bayraktar TB3 struck the target with a direct hit using the CİRİT missile. The test adds another weapon option to a platform designed to operate from short-runway ships, including Türkiye's TCG Anadolu.
The Bayraktar TB3 has become central to Türkiye's effort to give TCG Anadolu an unmanned air wing after the country's removal from the F-35 program changed the ship's original aviation concept. The aircraft's ability to take off from and land on short-runway vessels gives Türkiye a route to fixed-wing unmanned strike and reconnaissance operations at sea.
Roketsan describes CİRİT as a 2.75-inch laser-guided missile designed to fill the gap between unguided rockets and heavier anti-tank missiles. The company lists the missile for use against lightly armored and unarmored targets and describes it as suitable for air-to-surface and surface-to-surface missions.
That gives the TB3-CİRİT firing a clear operational meaning beyond the direct hit itself. CİRİT gives TB3 a lighter precision option alongside heavier guided munitions, useful for targets where a smaller warhead and faster engagement cycle may be more appropriate than larger air-to-ground weapons.
TurDef noted that the integration could point toward wider mission flexibility, including small naval targets and a broader counter-small-target profile. That remains a development path, not a declared operational role, but it shows why a light laser-guided missile matters for a naval unmanned aircraft.
The test also strengthens Türkiye's layered approach to unmanned naval aviation. TB3 is being developed as a platform that can scout, strike and support maritime operations from TCG Anadolu and other short-runway environments, while CİRİT gives that platform another domestic precision munition from Türkiye's defense industry ecosystem.
The immediate value is a broader payload menu for a shipborne unmanned aircraft. TB3 is no longer only proving that it can operate from short-runway vessels; it is now building the weapons profile that would make those operations militarily useful.
Sources: Baykar, Roketsan, İHA, TurDef, Bosphorus News review and reporting.