Turkish UAV maker Baykar demonstrated its next-generation Kamikaze UAV K2 and Sivrisinek (Mosquito) loitering munition, showcasing AI-supported swarm autonomy, GNSS-independent navigation, automatic target detection, and strike capabilities during a demonstration held at the Keşan Flight Training and Test Center.
The K2 Kamikaze UAV and the Sivrisinek loitering munition will make their public debut at SAHA 2026, which takes place in Istanbul May 5-9.
The April 17 demonstration opened with the sequential takeoffs of five K2 Kamikaze UAVs within five minutes. Once airborne, the platforms conducted patrol flights in “right echelon,” “line,” “V,” and “Turan” formations.
Ten Sivrisinek loitering munitions — a new platform developed by Baykar — then joined the operation, forming a swarm beneath the K2 Kamikaze UAVs. The Bayraktar TB2, TB3, and AKINCI UCAVs accompanied the swarm flight, recording the operation from the air.
Credit: Baykar
AI-supported visual navigation Among the key technical highlights of the demonstration were the solutions developed to counter electronic warfare environments. Using AI-supported visual navigation software, the platforms demonstrated the capability to perform positioning and navigation independently of GNSS.
Having successfully showcased autonomous navigation in a GNSS-denied environment, the K2 and Sivrisinek Kamikaze UAVs also demonstrated AI-supported automatic target detection and automatic strike capabilities.
As part of the demonstration, a fleet of Sivrisinek loitering munitions executed a dive on the designated coordinates. A K2 Kamikaze UAV then broke off from the swarm and performed a high-speed dive on the designated coordinates, conducting a pass. In the final phase of the demonstration, a swarm group composed of 18 unmanned aerial vehicles across different classes — 5 K2s, 10 Sivrisinek, 1 Bayraktar TB2, 1 TB3, and 1 AKINCI — came together in a “V” formation to salute the delegation observing the flight.
Developed by Baykar, the next-generation Sivrisinek loitering munition raises operational depth to a range exceeding 1,000 kilometers. Capable of uninterrupted communication within the swarm through AI support, Sivrisinek platforms can instantly share detected targets with one another.
Performing its missions through AI-based visual positioning even in the most challenging environments — including areas where GNSS signals are unavailable or subject to intensive jamming — Sivrisinek stands out in strategic missions to be conducted on the battlefield thanks to its high autonomy capability.
Developments in the autonomous space this month include an cargo aircraft with unmanned passengers, another way drones can deliver really heavy cargo, and a fanciful recreation of a beloved vintage car.
How do you catch a gremlin? Wait, what’s a gremlin?
Gremlins are supposed to be unmanned aircraft which are launched and recovered in flight from a cargo or bomb-carrying aircraft. Flying in small collaborating swarms, gremlins are equipped with sensors for communications, jamming, reconnaissance or other needs.
As envisioned by the U.S. Army’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), gremlins are reusable, may be autonomous, can operate in GNSS-denied environments, and can be flown on high-risk missions into high-risk areas — places that high-value manned aircraft would avoid.
DARPA has contracted Dynetics to come up with a system that meets those criteria — a pretty demanding list of capabilities. So far, prototype X-61A UAVs have been built and flown through four flight test campaigns.
Many military technologists have dreamed of unmanned flying aircraft carriers, which could be put to a variety of uses. If the gremlin system works, the commercial world might well find its own applications.
Carried under the wings of a C-130A cargo transport, gremlins have been launched and flown through three flight tests. Capture and recovery has been attempted but was unsuccessful because of unanticipated turbulence. One test vehicle was lost when its parachute recovery system failed — altogether, three vehicles have been lost.
Finally, on Oct. 25 over the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, one Gremlin X-61A was flown onto the C-130A capture system and successfully recovered.
The gremlin X-61A test vehicle is recovered into C-130 transport on its fourth test flight. (Photo: DARPA)
The DARPA program requires a number of Gremlin UAVs to be captured, recovered and stowed in the mother aircraft within 30 minutes. The current recovery system is somewhat complex, so it remains to be seen if subsequent tests can achieve this substantial goal. Recovery might become easier and more reliable with an increase in the degree of autonomous operation for both the UAV and the recovery system.
A Guided Box for Disaster Relief
We turn now from a complex system to a direct and simple one that fulfills a key logistical requirement for disaster relief. It’s a fully autonomous UAV that lacks any integrated power source. Essentially, it’s a guided box.
The AVIUS Air Delivery Mercy-2000 by Yates Electrospace Corp. is basically an air-dropped cargo container that can glide from an altitude of 25,000 feet to a fixed location. From up to 35 miles away, this precision-guided drone can land safely within 110 yards of the desired site and deliver more than 1,600 pounds of material for critical medical and humanitarian needs.
Initially developed for military air-drop purposes (the U.S. Air Force just ordered 15), the cargo container is an 8-foot-long box with two sets of folded wings, fitted with a small nose-cone and a larger tail-cone before launch that help stabilize flight. The wings are carried inside the box and are installed by simply turning over the top cover.
Photo: Yates Electrospace Corp.
The assembly includes the essential guidance system. A COTS (commercial-off-the shelf) GPS receiver, lidar, magnetic heading sensor, barometric altimeter, inertial measurement unit and pitot speed sensor are integrated into proprietary software running on a COTS computer.
Anyone who has ever tried to land a glider from 25,000 feet knows that actually landing safely in the right place is tough to do. It’s quite an achievement to create a reliable, precision, autonomous solution that works when pushed out the back of an aircraft.
New Model of Old Renault Takes Flight
Now to a more fanciful story about an old friend – the Renault 4L. Many of us remember driving or riding in one, with its gear-change on the dash, uncomfortable seats, suspension and “sewing machine” engine.
The Renault 4L was manufactured from 1974 to 1978. (Photo: ribeiroantonio/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)
In celebration of its 60th anniversary, Renault (now part of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance) and TheArsenale have teamed up in France to make a flying 4L known as the AIR4.
The body shell has been re-engineered in carbon fiber with the same shape of the original 4L. The frame has been built for vertical and horizontal flight, with propellers at each corner of the vehicle. The body shell lifts at the front for pilot access. The Air4 carries lithium polymer batteries, providing up to 90,000 mAh. It can achieve 58 mph when tilted forward at 45°.
The Air4 will go on public display until the end of the year in the center of Paris at the Renault Center on the Champs Elysées, along with other antique models of the Renault 4. Miami will be the next stop for the AIR4, followed by New York and then Macau, China.
To sum up, we have gremlins making progress and being recaptured, a 1-ton flying box for important deliveries, and a celebration of 60 years of the Renault 4L — quite a wide range of ingenious unmanned vehicle applications.
KuRFS radars address urgent operational need against drone threats.
The U.S. Army awarded Raytheon Company a $191 million contract for Ku-band radio frequency radars. KuRFS, an advanced electronically scanned array system, fills an immediate U.S. Army operational need for a counter-unmanned aerial vehicle radar, Raytheon said.
Already deployed, KuRFS delivers precision fire control as well as “sense and warn” capability for multiple missions including detection of swarming UAS threats, as well as rocket, artillery and mortar threats.
Raytheon’s KuRFS radar. (Photo: Raytheon)
“Seeing threats — like swarming drones — as soon as possible on the battlefield is essential to protecting critical assets and saving soldiers’ lives,” said Andrew Hajek, senior director of tactical radars at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems. “KuRFS makes this possible by delivering a unique combination 360-degree situational awareness, precision and mobility.”
KuRFS enables defense against multiple threat types through integration with the Land-Based Phalanx Weapon System, 50-caliber guns and 30-mm cannons. The radar also supports high-energy laser and the Coyote weapon system in both a ground-mounted or vehicle-mounted configuration, Raytheon said.
Raytheon’ KuRFS is able to quickly address the urgent needs of the army through a model of rapid-turn development and deployment, the company added. This reduces time to fielding, while providing enhanced flexibility to adapt to a quickly-changing threat environment in the drone space.
