TAI Baykuş is a radio-controlled tactical unmanned drone designed, developed and built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) between 2003-2004.
Baykuş is the Turkish word for "owl". TAI produces other UAVs named after birds.
Development
The UAV was developed based on the experience gained by its half-sized model TAI Pelikan.
The shoulder-winged UAV has all composite material airframe with metal twin tail booms. The drone is propelled by two 2-cylinder 2-stroke gasoline engines of type JPX DC320 from France with 2 x power. There exist two versions of TAI Baykuş related to propeller configuration, a pusher and a tractor aircraft.
The drone carries a two-axis gimbaled EO/IR camera, which relays its video in real-time telemetry. Its guidance/tracking takes place fully autonomous based on INS/GPS integrated waypoint navigation system. Take off and landing of the drone is accomplished in conventional way on wheels.