Turkey's New Kamikaze Drone 'DELI' Successfully Tested in Konya

The kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) DELI, developed within the Turkish defense industry, has successfully completed firing tests with a warhead in Konya Karapınar and has been made ready for duty.

Titra Technology started the DELI Tactical Kamikaze System Project approximately 1.5 years ago. DELI was first showcased at SAHA EXPO in October 2022.

For the DELI Tactical Kamikaze System, a high-impact warhead with a wide blast radius was developed by TUBITAK SAGE. DELI, with its autonomous and manual operational capabilities, can be easily transported due to its modular structure and can be ready for use in less than 15 minutes.

DELI, with the addition of anti-jamming measures, has its security level enhanced. It can reach a cruising speed of 80 kilometers per hour and a maximum speed of 180 kilometers per hour. DELI is prepared to enter the battlefield with a maximum altitude of 3,500 meters and an operational altitude ranging from 150 to 500 meters.

In the kamikaze project, numerous flights and dives have been conducted thus far to validate the platform, system, and subsystems. Finally, a final qualification test was carried out using live ammunition.

During the tests held at the test range in Konya-Karapınar under the supervision of the Ministry of National Defense, suicide dives were performed onto predetermined targets using the ammunition and detonation system developed by TUBITAK SAGE. The tests lasted for three days.

During the tests, a larger warhead weighing 3.8 kilograms was used instead of the initially announced 3.1 kilograms. The tests, conducted through catapult and manual launching methods, were successfully completed, with the targets being accurately hit. Future efforts will focus on targeting with larger ammunition that possesses anti-armor capabilities.

Davut Yılmaz, the CEO of Titra Technology, recently stated that they have conducted tests on numerous systems in the DELI Kamikaze Project and successfully validated their developed software and hardware. He mentioned that they have completed the verification process of their software and hardware components after recently unveiling the project.