Pakistan’s army drone team has finished second at the first international military drone competition held in Türkiye, earning silver in both the team event and the individual standings.
The Best International Military Drone Team Competition (BIMDTC-2026) brought together military drone pilots from 33 countries in Ankara, according to reports of the event. The final was held on Saturday, 24 October, at Martyr Army Pilot First Lieutenant Gurcan Ulucan Square in the Temelli area of Ankara’s Sincan district, after preliminary rounds that began on 20 October.
In the team final, pilots flew first-person-view (FPV) drones through a course of 23 obstacles, judged on speed, manoeuvring and flight skill. Host nation Türkiye’s first team won with a time of 41.417 seconds. Pakistan finished second in 50.253 seconds, ahead of Italy in third with 50.680 seconds and France in fourth with 57.142 seconds.
Pakistan’s team came from the 44 Signals Regiment, reports said. In the individual category, Captain Talha of the same regiment also claimed second place among more than 100 participating military pilots, giving Pakistan a second silver medal at the event.
Each country could enter a team of up to three people, including at least two FPV pilots drawn from active-duty or reserve military personnel, with the best course times qualifying for the final. FPV flying, in which pilots control a drone through a live camera feed, has become a central skill in modern military drone operations, used for reconnaissance, surveillance and battlefield awareness.
Senior Turkish military leaders attended the closing ceremony, including Chief of General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, Land Forces Commander General Metin Tokel and Gendarmerie General Commander General Ali Cardakci. General Bayraktaroglu presented the first-place award to the Turkish team, while General Tokel presented Pakistan’s award.
The competition was organised by the Turkish Land Forces Command as the first event of its kind, with observers from several countries, including Sudan and Somalia, in attendance. Reports of the ceremony also quoted General Bayraktaroglu as saying the Turkish Armed Forces aim to expand their production of unmanned systems in the coming years, underlining how seriously militaries now take drone capability.
For Pakistan, the result is a notable showing on a new international stage — a silver medal for the team and another for an individual pilot, against 33 nations, in a discipline where split seconds over an obstacle course decided the podium. It also follows other recent high-profile moments for Pakistan’s military training institutions, which continue to draw attention at home and abroad.
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