Akinci & Aksungur and Turkish Unmanned Fighter Aircraft Program

[mete]

This image from SAR? If true, that is great. But looks like this image is from an optical instruments considering the shadow at the hills. Is that an officialy confirmed image?

 

[cabatli_53]

This image from SAR? If true, that is great. But looks like this image is from an optical instruments considering the shadow at the hills. Is that an officialy confirmed image?

Mete,

Before examine the trueness of above image, I think You have to learn/read the working principles of SAR radars to take raw datas of land surfaces to convert it to a true image like that...

 

[500]

 

[Cerian]

 

[AKINCI]

Successful flight at the end.

 

[BaybarsHan]

first delivery to the Turkish Army 2012

 

[Saithan]

I'm still worried over that landing, it looked absolutely horrible, they need to solve that problem ASAP. Testing prototypes that crashes everytime is a big issue, esp. money-wise.

 

[Cerian]

I'm still worried over that landing, it looked absolutely horrible, they need to solve that problem ASAP. Testing prototypes that crashes everytime is a big issue, esp. money-wise.

Maybe that landing was part of the test as we don't know all the details of testing procedure.

 

[Fuzuli]

I'm sure that by the time the first series production aircraft is delivered, all these problems will be solved and our industry would have gained enough experience to design and produce other UAV's with less time and money spent on R&D and tests.

So proud to see this beautiful bird flying.

 

[Faheka]

High resolution picture of the latest flight..

Click for non resized version

 

[Saithan]

Hürriyet Daily News | VIDEO

ANKA unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Turkish engineers at TAI was flown for six hours today for tests, reaching a maximum height of 6,000 meters above ground.

 

[Faheka]

Flight time 6hrs and ceiling 20000ft . Automatic take off and landing tested for the first time.

 

[Babur Han]

First Turkish unmanned plane likely to be ready this summer

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency
Five unmanned Anka aircraft be in use by this summer, says Murad Bayar, the undersecretary of Defense Ministry. The share of domestic production in arms will boost, he also says

An Anka unmanned plane is seen during a test drive. Turkey aims at becoming the third country to produce such an aircraft. DHA photo
Turkey’s first unmanned ANKA aircraft, which is currently under the testing phase, will be ready for deployment by summer, according to Murat Bayar, undersecretary of the Defense Ministry.

“Five ANKA planes will be in use by this summer,” he told the Anatoila news agency during a recent interview.

The United States and Israel are the only other countries capable of making unmanned aerial vehicles, he said.

Turkey has increased its share of domestic production in its defense industry to more than 50 percent over the last five years, “The share of domestic production in Turkey’s defense industry has risen from 20 percent to 52 percent in the last five years,” adding that the country aimed to reach 70-80 percent in the next few years.

The industry used to meet national demand by manufacturing foreign licensed products, but this has recently changed. “Now we are concentrating on developing our own designs,” said Bayar, adding that Turkey’s total export target was now close to $1 billion. “We reached a total volume of $800 million in defense industry exports last year and I believe we could reach $1 billion this year […] 2012 will be a year of mass production in national defense sector projects.”

Turkey will start to use national warships, national tanks, national infantry rifles, national helicopters and unmanned aircraft in 2012.

Bayar also said a national low-altitude and high-altitude defense system would go into mass production in 2012 and emphasized the importance of sustainability in national defense projects. “We aim to develop the infrastructure base of national tanks, aircraft and weapons.”

Referring to the national rifle, Bayar said the testing phase was still continuing but added that the rifle was expected to go into mass production this year. “It is not an easy task to develop a rifle. We are working with all the contributors to the projects and are hopeful that we will decide on mass production […] We want the rifles in the hands of our soldiers to be made locally,” he said.

He also said the country’s first national tank, the “Altay,” was in the testing phase. The prototype production of Altay is expected to start this year and be used later in the testing process. “We are currently making simulations on the computer and know what type of tank it will be.”

As for the national helicopter project, the “Atak,” Bayar said licenses originally belonging to Italy had been bought by Turkey in order to become the sole producer of the helicopter globally.

“We have made some modifications in line with our desires,” he said, adding that all the electronics to be used in the helicopter would be produced in Turkey. “We aim to deliver one helicopter this year and 51 more next year.”

January/24/2012

ECONOMICS - First Turkish unmanned plane likely to be ready this summer

 

[Babur Han]

Anka unmanned plane to take off this summer

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey is planning to launch its unmanned planes by the summer in the hopes of using them against the outlawed Kurdsitan Workers Party (PKK). The planes A version is ready, but a B version is still pending
The Anka A version unmanned aerial vehicle made its first successful flight in October 2011. The Ankas length is eight meters and its wingspan is 17 meters with a maximum take-off weight of 1,500 kilos.

Ümit Enginsoy uenginsoy@aol.com

The Anka, a medium-altitude and long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle designed and produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries for more than $150 million, should be in the skies this summer, according to the manufacturers.

However, even the Ankas makers cant say how effective it will be against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, the purpose for which it has been designed.

Efforts to design the Anka were launched in 2004 with $150 million for five aircraft, and 8 years later, the drone, whose name was inspired from a mythical flying creature, has made several partly successful test-flights.

The drones A version is a reconnaissance unit and the planned B version is projected to become the UAVs unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The A version is ready, but it is not known if the B version will appear soon.

Anka A had its maiden flight in December 2010, flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet for 14 minutes, but it ended in crash-landing. The drones specifications call for a flight time of almost 24 hours at 30,000 feet. Two later flights also ended up in crash-landings, although their flight in the air was extended.
The drone had its first successful test flight on Oct. 25, 2011. Despite being at sub-standard flight conditions, the footage released by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) put speculation about the crash-landings at a rest. On Nov. 22, 2011, the Anka held the follow-up test flight for 6 hours at an altitude of 20,000 feet.

The Ankas length is 8 meters, wingspan is 17 meters and maximum takeoff weight is more than 1,500 kilos.

The drones eventual success prompted the Defense Industry Executive Committee, the countrys ultimate decision-making body on defense procurement body led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to authorize the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, the defense industry agency (SSM), to sign a nearly $150 million deal with TAI buy 10 Anka UAVs off-the-shelf. Simultaneously the SSM released a request for information to buy engines for the drone.

So, this became Turkeys first deal for SSM to sign with a local or non-local entity to buy a product that has not met the project requirements in test-flights. The aim is to put the drones in service against the PKK this summer.

Turkey has increasingly been trying to use UAVs against PKK capabilities in an area in its southeast, bordering Iraq and Iran.

Turkey in the past used to get UAV needs from allies like Israel. But relations with Israel are in deep freeze since May 2010, when Israeli commandos raided a Turkish-led aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip, killing nine Turks on board. Turkey last year downgraded all military ties with Israel.

In one of the last major deals signed with Israel in 2007, Turkey was to buy 10 Heron UAV made by a team of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Turkeys Aselsan for $180 million. Nine of the Israeli UAVs are still in service, but Turkey had problems with the crafts as they frequently need upgrades in Israel.
Since the end of 2007, the United States has been involved in efforts to provide the Turkish military with active intelligence against the PKK. Using information gathered by U.S. drones, the military has hit PKK positions in northern Iraq several times since then.

The U.S. has agreed to a request by Turkey to transfer four MQ-1 Predator drones used for that purpose to bases inside Turkey as the U.S. forces prepared to withdraw from Iraq, moving the four drones to the Incirlik base inside Turkey.

Turkey separately has requested to buy four MQ-1 Predators and two MQ-9 Reaper drones from the U.S., to which a positive response has yet to be given since the request was made in early 2009.

ECONOMICS - Anka unmanned plane to take off this summer

 

[Babur Han]

I have heard that Burraq program has some external help like from China and Turkey, can you tell me in what sector does the Turks provided the help?

Turkey could help in providing Sensors, Software, RAM Materials and other Electronics !