UAV Crashed In Turkey For The Third Time In Five Days: It Could Be Russian Merlin-BP

• 20.12.2025, 16:44

Its range reaches about 600 kilometers.

In Turkey, a drone, which may be a Russian reconnaissance UAV Merlin-BP, has fallen in a field near the town of Balikesir near the border with Greece. Its range reaches about 600 kilometers.

The downing of what is believed to be a Russian UAV in Turkey is reported by Turkish media HavaHaber. The incident took place in the countryside of Salur neighborhood in Manyas district.

The unknown drone was reportedly found by farmers who were working in the field and reported it to security forces. Specialists preliminarily inspected the drone and sent it to the Turkish capital Ankara for detailed technical analysis.

Local authorities said that it is still unknown who exactly the drone belongs to, and security sources told journalists that the published online footage is old.

At the same time, citing data from open sources, Turkish media writes that the downed UAV may be a Russian Merlin-BP. This drone is launched from a catapult and has a range of about 600 kilometers. It can fly up to 10 hours, and the payload consists of 7 kg of electro-optical equipment. The cost of a single unit is estimated to be around $300,000. It has a wingspan of about 5 meters and is one of the largest and most expensive Russian drones.

Russian UAVs in Turkey: 3 incidents in 5 days

The day before, on December 19, a Russian Orlan-10 was detected in Turkey at a distance of 50 km from Istanbul, where politicians' residences and military facilities are located.

On the evening of December 15, Turkey said it had shot down the drone over the Black Sea with F-16 fighter jets, but the Ministry of National Defense did not specify who the drone belonged to.