Bayraktar Akinci Shoots Down Shahed-Style Drone Using New EREN Munition in Air Defense Test

Turkey’s Bayraktar Akinci strike drone has, for the first time, intercepted an airborne target using Roketsan’s Eren loitering munition during a test over the Black Sea, according to Defense Express on February 23. 

Defense Express cited Baykar reporting that the trial involved launching Eren from Akinci to hit an aerial target described as a Shahed-shaped drone target.

The test was conducted over the Black Sea near the coast of Turkey’s northern Sinop region, with Akinci taking off from a training and test center near the city of Corlu, flying about 600 km to the range area, completing the intercept, and returning along the same route. 

The outlet said Baykar had carried out earlier aerial-intercept trials with Akinci in 2025, but those used a different type of target, making the latest event the first reported Akinci intercept using the Eren loitering munition. 

Defense Express said Eren was first presented in 2025 and is equipped with a small turbojet engine, with a stated engagement range of more than 100 km and an endurance of about 15 minutes.

It said Eren weighs more than 35 kg, is about 2 meters long, and has a 160 mm diameter, while the munition’s warhead type and weight were not disclosed.

The outlet added that Eren is described as capable of striking both armored and unarmored targets and uses an electro-optical seeker with artificial intelligence features alongside inertial navigation and GNSS , and can be launched not only from aircraft but also from ground and maritime platforms. 

Earlier, it was reported that the Bayraktar TB3 reconnaissance and strike drone completed its first international deployment during NATO’s Steadfast Dart 2026 exercises, operating from the Turkish Navy’s TCG Anadolu warship.

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