Edge, Baykar integrating guided bombs with Bayraktar TB2 UAV

A Bayraktar TB2 carries a Desert Sting 16 guided bomb during an integration test flight. (Edge)

The Emirati defence group Edge is working with Baykar to integrate its Desert Sting guided bomb on the Turkish company's Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), it was announced on 17 January.

In a statement, Edge said the plan is to initially integrate the Desert Sting 16 (DS-16) with the TB2 before the end of this year as part of its strategic alliance agreement with Baykar, with other payloads to follow.

“Integration of the Desert Sting 16 and other Edge weapons and systems will be valuable options in our UAV payload offerings,” the statement quoted Selçuk Bayraktar, Baykar chairman and chief technology officer, as saying.

The statement was accompanied by a video showing a DS-16 being loaded on to a TB2 at a location that could be identified as Baykar's Keşan facility and then being dropped on Hedef island in the Gulf of Saros, about 22 km to the southeast.