Selçuk Bayraktar is an entrepreneur and civil activist. He is the developer of Türkiye’s first indigenous S/UAV system, Bayraktar TB2, and Türkiye’s first national unmanned combat aircraft prototype, Bayraktar KIZILELMA. As the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Baykar, Selçuk Bayraktar also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of T3 Foundation. Married to Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar in 2016, Selçuk Bayraktar is the father of two children and holds a private pilot’s license.
Youth and Education
Selçuk Bayraktar, the architect of Türkiye’s first national and original S/UAV systems and the first national unmanned combat aircraft, Bayraktar KIZILELMA, was born in 1979 in Sarıyer, Istanbul. After graduating from Robert College in 1997, he continued his undergraduate education in Electronics and Communications Engineering at Istanbul Technical University until 2002. He completed his graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Department of Computer and Information Science between 2002 and 2004, participating in pioneering research on UAV formation flights and robot coordination—the first of their kind worldwide. While pursuing his graduate and doctoral studies at MIT, he worked on automatic flight control algorithms for unmanned helicopter systems and completed his second master’s degree in 2006. In 2007, he returned to Türkiye and continued his work on unmanned aerial vehicle technologies at Baykar.
Aerospace and Space Research
Selçuk Bayraktar has served as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Baykar since 2007 and has been Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2021. He leads efforts in developing the avionics architecture, flight control and travel algorithms, system kinematics and dynamics, electronic hardware, and embedded software for Baykar’s indigenous UAV systems.
He led the team that developed the Bayraktar TB2 S/UAV system—the first national UAV of Türkiye, which entered the Turkish Armed Forces inventory in 2014, has been exported to 34 countries (December 2024), and has surpassed 1 million flight hours, establishing itself as the best in its class globally. He also developed Bayraktar AKINCI TİHA, Türkiye’s first offensive UAV with a 6-ton takeoff weight, and delivered it to the Turkish Armed Forces in 2021. As of 2024, Bayraktar AKINCI TİHA has been exported to 10 countries.
Bayraktar TB3 - Bayraktar TB2 - Bayraktar KIZILELMA - Bayraktar AKINCI
Selçuk Bayraktar leads the development projects of the Bayraktar KIZILELMA, the first indigenous S/UAV in the world to perform takeoff and landing on aircraft carriers on 19 November 2024, and Türkiye’s first unmanned combat aircraft. Bayraktar KIZILELMA conducted its first flight on 14 December 2022, prior to its public unveiling in 2023, and under Selçuk Bayraktar’s leadership, achieved formation flights unprecedented in aviation history. In this context, the two unmanned aerial vehicles from the Muharip class—Bayraktar AKINCI TİHA and Bayraktar KIZILELMA Unmanned Combat Aircraft—have successfully performed multiple close wing flights, the first such maneuvers ever conducted in global aviation history.
Through the Fergani Space technology initiative, he conducts space research. He leads projects at Fergani Space Technologies for developing low Earth orbit satellite constellations and orbital transfer vehicles. Its first satellite, FGN-100-d1, was launched into space on 15 January 2025 at 22:09 Türkiye time from Vandenberg Space Force Base, USA, and successfully entered orbit.
Social Initiatives
Selçuk Bayraktar managed Türkiye’s development efforts for intensive care ventilators in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2019. The respiratory device developed jointly by Baykar, BIOSYS, ASELSAN, and ARÇELİK has been exported and donated by Türkiye to numerous countries.
He continues his work in healthcare through the CANSAĞLIĞI Foundation, of which he is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, supporting projects for genetic, immunology, and many other fields. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Culture and Medeniyet Foundation (CLUSTER), which aim to view the journey of human civilization as a whole and generate solutions to societal challenges. The KÜME Foundation seeks to encourage artists conducting original work and cultural activities.
As Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Türkiye Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation), he supports talented youth capable of contributing to national and original technology development and organizes educational programs. Guided by the National Technology Initiative vision, the T3 Foundation organizes TEKNOFEST annually—the world’s largest aerospace, space, and technology event. The internationally recognized TEKNOFEST was also held in Azerbaijan in 2022.
Awards, Decorations, and Honors
On 1 April 2021, Selçuk Bayraktar was awarded the Karabakh Order by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for his contribution to the liberation of Karabakh through the Bayraktar TB2 UAV systems developed by Baykar.
In 2022, he received the Order of the State of Ukraine by order of Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky.
On 4 April 2023, Bayraktar was awarded the Military Cooperation Medal by Azerbaijani Minister of Defense Zakir Hasanov. On 2 October 2023, he was granted the Azerbaijani State Medal for Service to Citizens and Social Innovations by the Azerbaijani State Agency for Service to Citizens and Social Innovations (ASAN Service), awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions to Azerbaijan.
On 18 October 2023, he was awarded Mali’s highest decoration, the National Order of Mali, by President Assimi Goita for his contributions and services to the African nation of Mali.
On 28 February 2024, he was awarded the “1st Order of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine” by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine for his significant contributions to Ukraine’s national security and defense and the enhancement of its defense capabilities under martial law.
On 9 October 2024, he was awarded the Kyrgyzstan Dank State Order by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov for his contributions to the country’s defense capacity and military potential.
Patents
1. Automatic Takeoff and Landing System for Aircraft (Turkish Patent Institute 2015/07928)
2. Electro-Mechanical Servo Motor Controlled Actuator System and Control Method Capable of Sensing Changing Work Conditions (Turkish Patent Institute 2015/14111)
3. Triple-Redundant Flight Control System (Turkish Patent Institute Ref: PT2015-00693)
4. ECG Device (Turkish Patent Institute Ref: PT2015-00693)
Scientific Publications
Experimental Cooperative Control of Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
S Bayraktar, GE Fainekos, GJ Pappas
Decision and Control, 2004. CDC. 43rd IEEE Conference on 4, 4292–4298
2004
Synergies in Feature Localization by Air-Ground Robot Teams
B Grocholsky, S Bayraktar, V Kumar, CJ Taylor, G Pappas
Experimental Robotics IX, 352-361
2006
Flight Modeling and Experimental Autonomous Hover Control of a Fixed Wing Mini-UAV at High Angle of Attack
HD Blauwe, S Bayraktar, E Feron, F Lokumcu
2007
UAV and UGV Collaboration for Active Ground Feature Search and Localization
B Grocholsky, S Bayraktar, V Kumar, G Pappas
Proc. of the AIAA 3rd “Unmanned Unlimited” Technical Conference
2004
Experiments With Small Helicopter Automated Landings at Unusual Attitudes
S Bayraktar, E Feron
arXiv preprint arXiv:0709.1744
2007
Experiments With Small Unmanned Helicopter Nose-Up Landings
S Bayraktar, E Feron
Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics 32 (1), 332-337
2009
Hybrid Modeling and Experimental Cooperative Control of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
S Bayraktar, G Fainekos, GJ Pappas
Technical Report, Department of CIS, University of Pennsylvania
2004
Aggressive Landing Maneuvers for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
S Bayraktar
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2006
Hybrid Modeling and Experimental Cooperative Control of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
S Bayraktar, GE Fainekos, GJ Pappas
2004
Aggressive Landing Maneuvers for 3-DOF Helicopter UAV
S Bayraktar, E Feron
AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control, Keystone, Colo
2006
A Novel Mosaic Quality Measurement Method for UAV Surveillance and Remote Sensing
T Buyukyazi, S Bayraktar, I Lazoglu
ISPRS-International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and …
2013
Real-Time Image Stabilization and Mosaicking by Using Ground Station CPU in UAV Surveillance
T Buyukyazi, S Bayraktar, I Lazoglu
Proceedings of the IEEE 6th International Conference on Recent Advances in …
2013
Real-Time, Hardware Independent Stabilization and Mosaicing in Low Altitude UAV Surveillance
Tolga Büyükyazı, Selçuk Bayraktar, Prof. Dr. İsmail Lazoğlu;
Journal of Field Robotics: Special Issue on Low Altitude UAV Flight
2013
Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Technology: Design and Development Studies
Ömer İnak, Haluk Bayraktar, Selçuk Bayraktar, SAVTEK 2006, ODTÜ
2006
Design Features of Bayraktar Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Haluk Bayraktar, Selçuk Bayraktar, Prof. Dr. Ünver Kaynak, SAVTEK 2006, ODTÜ
2006
Bayraktar Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System Components and Performance Analysis
Haluk Bayraktar, Selçuk Bayraktar, HASEM 06, Kayseri
2006
An Unmanned Aircraft Project from Ideal to Reality
Selçuk Bayraktar, Haluk Bayraktar; HITEK 2004 Symposium, Air Force Academy
2004
