Turkey unveils ‘Kuzgun’, a long-range Shahed-style attack drone
Yet another Shahed drone copy has emerged, this time in Turkey. On the sidelines of the drone-heavy SAHA 2026 defence trade show, the Turkish manufacturer STM unveiled its Kuzgun long-range one-way attack drone. Kuzgun means Ravan in Turkish.
Turkey develops its own Shahed-type drone
According to reporting by the English-language Turkish news outlet, Daily Sabah, Kuzgun has been developed for deep-strike missions, has a range of over 1,000 kilometres (621 miles), and an endurance of six hours.
Özgür Güleryüz, the General Manager of STM, said: “With Kuzgun, our long-range kamikaze UAV system developed for this need, we aim to take our country’s strategic deterrence to the next level.”
He added that the drone is equipped with “our national software, electronic warfare-resistant navigation system, and low-altitude flight capability, will operate with the goal of full precision even in the most challenging geographies.”
The new system is intended to be a force multiplier and able to autonomously attack targets like air defence and radar assets. Like other Shahed-style systems, it is designed for jamming-resistant navigation and is runway independent.
Notably, STM states, “the system was developed for cross-border operations and strikes against critical targets behind enemy lines.” Turkey has carried out numerous cross-border operations in Syria and the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
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Adds to Turkey’s growing list of combat drones
Turkey has become better known for its advanced combat and reconnaissance drones, like the TB2 Bayraktar and the Bayraktar Akinci drones. An Akinci drone was shot down in Sudan by Sudanese forces last week.
Turkey is also developing the large Bayraktar Kızılelma loyal wingman drone, powered by a Ukrainian Ivchenko-Progress AI-322F Turbofan engine.
Significantly, Turkey is building the world’s first dedicated massive drone carrier (called MUGEM) that is intended to be purpose-built for combat drones like these.
But, while Baykar has built more capable combat drones, it seems the country has been unable to resist the utility of the cheap and simple Shahed-style drone.
A late blossoming for an 1980s West German design
While the Iranians made the Shahed-type one-way attack drone famous, their design was derived from the Israeli IAI Harpy drone. That drone was in turn derived from the 1980s West German Dornier Drohne Anti-Radar (DAR) anti-radiation drone. A design abandoned by Germany.
But after four or five decades of relative obscurity, the German Dornier low-cost, delta-wing, one-way attack drone concept is rapidly spreading around the world as a low-cost solution available en masse.
Soon after the start of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia relied on Iranian Shahed-type drones (called Geran-2), which it has progressively upgraded and developed.
Interestingly, the design hasn’t proven popular in Ukraine, which is relying on other designs for its FP-1/-2 and other kamikaze drones.
In the 2026 air campaign over Iran, the US extensively employed its new Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) munition, a copy of the Shahed CENTCOM commander, Admiral Cooper called it “indispensable.”
France has tapped the car manufacturer Renault and others to build the French counterpart to these low-cost one-way munitions.
Another known delta-wing Shahed-type is the Chinese LOONG M9, along with multiple other Chinese designs.
