Baykar's AI-guided SİVRİSİNEK swarm munitions hit targets in Türkiye drill

Turkish drone maker Baykar showcased its SİVRİSİNEK smart munitions flying as a coordinated swarm during Ateş Serbest-2026, an exercise held by the Turkish Armed Forces in the Polatlı district of Ankara, according to reports published on 14 October 2026. Twenty munitions took off together, and ten of them peeled away from the group to strike pre-assigned targets.

The system's headline features are artificial intelligence support, swarm coordination and a stated range of more than 1,000 kilometres. Rather than operating as isolated loitering weapons, the munitions communicate with one another and share target data, so each unit's behaviour is tied to the plan of the swarm as a whole.

Navigating without satellite signals

Satellite positioning such as GPS is often rendered useless on the battlefield by electronic jamming. SİVRİSİNEK is designed to work around that through AI-assisted visual positioning, which reportedly lets it carry out missions where GNSS signals are absent or deliberately disrupted.

The munition needs no runway and can be launched from a catapult. It comes in two variants, named UM and UMX, carries a 20-kilogram warhead and can climb to roughly 3,000 metres. It can also reportedly be made mission-ready within minutes at the press of a single button.

Why it matters

Swarming autonomous munitions are one of the fastest-moving applications of AI in defence. Coordinating many relatively low-cost units is meant to overwhelm air defences and keep a mission alive even if individual aircraft are lost. Baykar, best known for its Bayraktar drones, used the exercise to put its swarm capability on public display.

The performance figures, including range and the accuracy of the strikes, come from the company and the exercise itself, and there has been no indication of independent verification. Autonomous weapons also remain a subject of international debate over how much human control is retained over targeting decisions.