The simulator is where the airframe budget survives its first year.
our VR simulator rehearses targets, payloads and mission profiles before a live sortie. Simlat sells a full simulation product line and Baykar builds simulators for its own aircraft; the three answer different questions about who trains on what.
The simulator is part of a working training pipeline that feeds live flying on the same platforms, rather than a standalone piece of courseware. Crews use it to stay current between live-fly periods.
Side by side
| Attribute | Represented by UnstratDrone simulators | SimlatUAS simulation product line1Israel | BaykarSimulator System2Türkiye |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium12 | Virtual reality | VR head-mounted display in the TALIS take-off and landing simulator; FPV goggles and hand controllers in PHOENIX-FPV | Not published; simulators described as software and hardware-in-the-loop training systems |
| Platform coverage12 | Our ISR, attack and counter-UAS platforms | Multiple third-party systems shown, including Mission Planner/MAVLink, Lockheed Martin VCSi, Insitu ScanEagle and INEXA Control, Aeronautics Orbiter 2/3 | Baykar's own UAV systems |
| Weapon and payload employment12 | Multiple warhead and payload employment profiles | Not published as warhead profiles; payload and sensor operation covered across the product line | Payload operator scenarios included in the training simulators |
| Crew training12 | Not published | C-STAR full crew stand-alone training system; IMPACT classroom with a master instructor station and multiple trainee stations | Pilot and payload operators trained on prepared operational and emergency scenarios |
| Instructor control1 | Not published | INTER connects an instructor station to a real ground control station or operator control unit; PANEL auto-scores trainee performance | Not published |
| Counter-UAS training1 | Not published as a simulator module; we train counter-UAS crews through the wider pipeline | ASTRA counter-UAS mission simulator covering detection, identification, decision making and electronic or kinetic effectors | Not published |
| Scenario authoring by the customer1 | Not published | COSMOS lets end users build their own training areas and 3D entities and load them into the simulators | Not published |
| Route to live flying13 | Feeds our simulator-to-live certification pathway on the same platforms crews will fly on task | Simulation vendor; live flying is the customer's or the platform vendor's responsibility | Simulator training sits inside Baykar's own operator programme, which ends in training flights |
| Origin12 | Independent, non-aligned | Israel | Türkiye |
Competitor values are quoted from the vendor documents listed under Sources, as published on the date shown. Configurations vary, so treat every row as a starting point for the evaluation rather than a like-for-like test result.
What the table means
Simlat is the broader simulation product; we are the pipeline
Simlat publishes a deeper catalogue than we do: full-crew training, an instructor station wired to a real ground control station, automatic performance scoring, customer-authored scenery and a dedicated counter-UAS simulator. If simulation itself is the procurement, that line deserves a serious look. Our simulator is not sold as a general-purpose simulation platform. It exists to compress the path to a certified operator on the aircraft we deliver, and it is priced and supported as part of that path.
Simulating your own aircraft is not a small advantage
Baykar builds simulators for Baykar aircraft, and the fidelity argument follows: the flight model comes from the people who wrote the flight control software. The same holds for us. Where a third-party simulator has to model someone else's autopilot, a platform vendor's simulator inherits it. The cost of that advantage is lock-in, which is exactly why some buyers choose Simlat.
Political strings reach training too
Training software is licensed, updated and supported over years, and an Israeli or Turkish supplier carries its home government's approvals into every renewal. For buyers who need a training capability that cannot be paused by someone else's foreign policy, a non-aligned supplier delivering both the simulator and the aircraft is the cleaner arrangement.
Questions buyers ask
What is the best alternative to Simlat for a defence buyer procuring UAS simulation?
Simlat is the more complete standalone simulation catalogue, with full-crew training, instructor stations connected to real ground control stations, automatic trainee scoring and a counter-UAS simulator. Choose our simulator instead when the requirement is not simulation as a product but certified operators on aircraft you are already buying: our VR simulator sits inside a simulator-to-live pathway on the same ISR, attack and counter-UAS platforms crews will fly.
How does a drone simulator compare with live flying on cost of ownership?
The simulator protects the scarce item. Operators make their mistakes in VR rather than on a sortie that can cost an airframe, and crews stay current between live-fly periods without burning airframe hours. Neither we nor Baykar publish a simulator-to-live hour ratio, so make each supplier state the number of simulator hours their certification actually requires before first flight, and price both sides of it.
Should we buy a simulator from the drone manufacturer or from a specialist?
From the manufacturer when fidelity to one fleet matters most, because the flight model comes from the same engineers. From a specialist like Simlat when you operate mixed fleets: their product line covers third-party systems including MAVLink, Lockheed Martin VCSi and Insitu ScanEagle. A mixed fleet with one simulator vendor is a defensible choice; a single fleet with a third-party simulator usually is not.
Can we build our own training scenarios, or are we tied to the vendor's content?
Simlat publishes COSMOS for exactly this, letting end users create training areas and 3D entities themselves. We do not publish an equivalent authoring tool, and that is a fair question to put to us in a tender. What we do commit to is that scenario development sits with the same in-region team that runs the live training, so a change in local threat picture does not require a foreign change request.
Sources
- 1. Simlat, Products (C-STAR, INTER, IMPACT, TALIS, PHOENIX-FPV, ASTRA, PANEL, COSMOS)Retrieved: 2026-07-31
- 2. Baykar, Simulator SystemRetrieved: 2026-07-31
- 3. Baykar, Payload and UAV Operator User TrainingsRetrieved: 2026-07-31