Turkey's High-Speed Target Aircraft SÜPER ŞİMŞEK Ready for First Flight

The high-speed target aircraft SÜPER ŞİMŞEK, developed by TUSAŞ, is gearing up for its first flight. The SÜPER ŞİMŞEK project, designed to enhance Turkey's air defense systems and support personnel training, has made significant progress. TUSAŞ drew attention by showcasing SÜPER ŞİMŞEK alongside the unmanned aerial vehicle AKSUNGUR at the Paris Airshow. Özgür Sayın, the Project Manager at TUSAŞ Tactical UAV Product, emphasized the importance of SÜPER ŞİMŞEK and stated that the project's tests have been completed.

Now, an eagerly awaited phase begins as SÜPER ŞİMŞEK prepares for its maiden flight. This high-speed target aircraft will be utilized in air defense system tests and will be further developed to incorporate various features such as electronic warfare, signal jamming, and different ammunition configurations. The TUSAŞ team will conduct flight tests and validate the autopilot software during the summer months, with the expectation of making SÜPER ŞİMŞEK operational by September. After the initial phase of utilizing SÜPER ŞİMŞEK as a target aircraft, it will transition to simulating decoy targets and serve for offensive purposes with armed versions. Under suitable conditions, in its first live fire exercise, SÜPER ŞİMŞEK will achieve high speeds and reach distances exceeding 700 kilometers.