Akinci & Aksungur and Turkish Unmanned Fighter Aircraft Program

[merzifonlu]

Simsek?

Yes. Şimsek is orginally a target drone. However, now şimsek turn a decoy&kamikaze drone!

 

[Zarvan]

Baykar ensures Turkey's self-reliance in drone tech as orders swell​

BY DAILY SABAH​

ISTANBUL FEB 21, 2022 - 3:14 PM GMT+3
EDITED BY AYŞE BETÜL BAL

Ukrainian Army-owned Bayraktar TB2 UCAV on display during the military parade on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence, Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug. 24, 2021. (Shutterstock Photo)




AVIATION-INDUSRY
Turkey has completely left behind its external dependency on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) technologies and now produces platforms that are among the best in the world, the chief technology officer (CTO) of the drone magnate Baykar said in a recent interview.

Selçuk Bayraktar, in an interview with Qatar-based Al Jazeera television, commented on Turkey's domestic technology, the country's development story of UAVs and its role in the new generation of UAVs.

Bayraktar, who stated that they took the first step with a small project to produce aircraft that can fly automatically, said that they first started the construction of UAVs in a small workshop.
He recalled that the first aircraft they produced were small planes that could stay in the air for one hour and fly a distance of just 15 kilometers (9.3 miles).

Stating that they started the now world-renowned Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) project in 2010, Bayraktar said that this particular drone joined the Turkish Armed Forces' (TSK) inventory in 2014 as a result of the work of the Undersecretariat of Defense Industry, which has now become the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB).

"The TB2s were successful in the fight against terrorism (within Turkey) and counterterrorism operations outside of Turkey," Bayraktar said.

The combat drones were used against the PKK terrorist threat within and outside Turkish borders, as well as against Daesh terrorists in Syria.

Another UCAV project by the Baykar company, Akıncı, Turkey’s most advanced drone to date, started in 2016, Bayraktar went on to say. This model is much larger than the world-renowned Bayraktar TB2s.

Akıncı UCAVs have very high power, allowing them to fulfill strategic missions, carry cruise missiles and engage in aerial combat while being operated via satellite, the company's CTO said.

Commenting further on how the country started its journey to produce UCAVs with domestic resources, Bayraktar said the country used to buy UAVs from Israel, "but planes from abroad could not take off and land automatically, and Israeli pilots used to lift and land the drones with a manual control device."

Bayraktar said that starting with smaller-volume UAVs, Turkey developed the software within the country that allowed automatic landing and takeoff of planes.

Stating that the TB2 is the most famous UAV model in the world and have been sold to 16 countries, Bayraktar said, "TB2s can stay in the air for 27 hours, have a range of hundreds of kilometers, can carry 130 kilograms (287 pounds) and are equipped with highly sensitive intelligent military equipment."

Referring to the other features of Turkish UAVs, Bayraktar stated that they are difficult to detect via radar and that they have achieved great success against tanks and defense systems, for example in Syria's Idlib and Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.

In massive retaliatory strikes and artillery shelling in Idlib during a regime attack in February 2020 that killed 33 Turkish soldiers and injured tens of others in the area, Turkey used its domestic UAVs to strike everything from tanks to howitzers and Russian-made air defense systems.

At least 2,200 Syrian regime troops, a drone, eight helicopters, 103 tanks, tens of howitzers and three air defense systems were neutralized, according to the Defense Ministry statements at the time.

Domestic drones provided surveillance and Close Air Support (CAS), and destroyed the regime targets with locally produced smart ammunition either being delivered by the drones or from afar with their guidance due to Syrian air space’s being close to Turkish F-16s.

Later, the Bayraktar TB2s were used by Azerbaijan’s army in their fight to retake occupied Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenian forces, again leaving no room for heavy military gear, including tanks, howitzers and Russian air defense systems to escape.

The drones were hailed as giving Baku the upper hand in liberating its lands.

‘Dedication’​

Bayraktar further said on "the secret of the transformation of Turkey's defense industry in the last 20 years" that it is the "dedication to work and willingness to get rid of foreign dependency."

Underlining that the country was dependent on foreign suppliers for 85% of supplies for the defense industry in the past, Bayraktar stated that Turkey has now become self-sufficient.
All business designs and main components were developed in the country, Bayraktar emphasized, reiterating that Turkey no longer has foreign dependency on securing materials or main components for defense industry products.

Bayraktar pointed out that the world drone industry was previously dominated by the United States, China and Israel, but Turkey is in the top three now.

"Europe does not have platforms comparable to Turkey, currently Turkish UCAVs are being exported to European countries," he also said.

Export contracts were signed with 16 countries for Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs, while it has already been incorporated into the arsenals of Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Qatar.

Among the European Union member countries that are interested in Turkish combat drones, Poland has already signed a contract for the purchase of Bayraktar TB2s, becoming the first NATO member country to acquire the Turkish drones. First shipments will arrive in 2022.

Latvia later hinted that it could be the second EU and NATO member state to purchase the Turkish UCAVs that have scored high-profile successes in the field.

Baykar ensures Turkey's self-reliance in drone tech as orders swell

Turkey has completely left behind its external dependency on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) technologies and now produces platforms that are among the...

www.dailysabah.com

 

[Oublious]

Akinci with 1500HP engines, this is model B. C model will have have PD220 engine and that is 440HP engine. C version will be good for recon missions. This model will have very long range and endurance because of the lower feul usage.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1499068181721362443

 

[dBSPL]

Akinci with 1500HP engines, this is model B. C model will have have PD220 engine and that is 440HP engine. C version will be good for recon missions. This model will have very long range and endurance because of the lower feul usage.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1499068181721362443

Wasn't the MS500 Turboprop's maximum takeoff power around 1000 hp?

As far as I know, there would be 3 engine alternatives, an AI-450C series turboprop engine, an MS500 derivative turboprop engine and a TEI PD2xx ST turbodiesel.

edit: the annotation from Haluk Bayraktar:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1499046837357006849

"We have completed the export contract with 2 countries for Bayraktar AKINCI UCAV!

After AKINCI B with 2x750=1500 HP, which successfully completed its first flight today, AKINCI C with 2x950=1900 HP will soon be in the skies."

edit2:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1499141844449509379

I forgot the PT6. This is Miguyan's opinion. So, there is no problem in the supply of engines from Canada for now. I think this might be the export version.

Looks like there will be 4 engine options
PD222ST (240hp)
AI-450T (450hp)
PT6A-135A (750hp)
MS500 (950hp)

 

[Oublious]

Wasn't the MS500 Turboprop's maximum takeoff power around 1000 hp?

As far as I know, there would be 3 engine alternatives, an AI-450C series turboprop engine, an MS500 derivative turboprop engine and a TEI PD2xx ST turbodiesel.

edit: the annotation from Haluk Bayraktar:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1499046837357006849

"We have completed the export contract with 2 countries for Bayraktar AKINCI UCAV!

After AKINCI B with 2x750=1500 HP, which successfully completed its first flight today, AKINCI C with 2x950=1900 HP will soon be in the skies."

edit2:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1499141844449509379

I forgot the PT6. This is Miguyan's opinion. So, there is no problem in the supply of engines from Canada for now. I think this might be the export version.

Looks like there will be 4 engine options
PD222ST (240hp)
AI-450T (450hp)
PT6A-135A (750hp)
MS500 (950hp)

So they managed yo aquire engines from Motor Sich. That MS500 engine is a beast. I hope they turn TS1400 in a turboprop engine so we have 2800 hp engine.

 

[hyperman]

Are there any alternatives to Ukrainian engines in case the Russian Ukrainian war ends up with Ukraine occupied? Russians are really close to the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is where all the Ukrainian engines are produced. If the infrastructure to make the engines is destroyed or taken over by Russia, it would jeopardize drone production. for the turbofan drone Bayraktar MIUS especially.

And Buying from Europe or the US/Canada there is the issue of cutting off of supplies for whatever reason. I know Ukrainian engines were chosen exactly for this reason, but I don't think anyone predicted the Russian Ukrainian war.

 

[Oublious]

Two more contract signed for TB2, total exported to 18 countries. I expect that this will go up to 24 countries after the Ukraine war. First flight of MIUS will be done in 2023 and this year first flight of TB3.

In this video Bayraktar says, when TB3 and MIUS is operational they will make revolution in battlefield.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1499458689283117070

 

[merzifonlu]

Are there any alternatives to Ukrainian engines in case the Russian Ukrainian war ends up with Ukraine occupied? Russians are really close to the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is where all the Ukrainian engines are produced. If the infrastructure to make the engines is destroyed or taken over by Russia, it would jeopardize drone production. for the turbofan drone Bayraktar MIUS especially.

And Buying from Europe or the US/Canada there is the issue of cutting off of supplies for whatever reason. I know Ukrainian engines were chosen exactly for this reason, but I don't think anyone predicted the Russian Ukrainian war.

Yes, no one expected Putin to be this crazy.

Returning to the subject, 3 types of engines were purchased from Ukraine. a) Turboprop engines for Akıncı, b) 3000 HP turboshaft engines for T929, c) Small size turbofan engines for MIUS.

a) The most reasonable domestic solution would be turboprop engines to be derived from TS-1400. Foreign solution Canadian PT6 series engines with civil certification.

b) There is a 3000 HP engine that TEI is working on as a domestic solution for the choice. But there are still many years to mass production engines in flight. Even the TS-1400 isn't quite ready yet. Foreign solution is simple: The GE T700 series engines.

c) The domestic solution is the TF-6000 engine that TEİ is also working on. Same, it will take many years for this to enter the inventory. The foreign solution is simple also, put on GE F404 engines.

If a solution is wanted in a short time, there is only one solution: To repair the relations between the USA and Turkey. It is impossible as long as Tayyip Erdogan is in power.

 

[dBSPL]

So they managed yo aquire engines from Motor Sich. That MS500 engine is a beast. I hope they turn TS1400 in a turboprop engine so we have 2800 hp engine.

I think the optimum point could be 2 x 1000hp engine pairs. Maximum take-off power alone could not be a most important criterion for an aircraft that will fly at +30K altitude / +24H during the average mission. In my opinion, the most important requirements in the AKINCI program are, still the optimum fuel consumption-altitude-airtime balance. With the MS-500, a MTOW increase of around 15%-20% can be achieved, this increase will allow AKINCI to carry multiple heavy munitions such penetration bombs or cruise missiles.

I think more agile UAVs will dominate main focus after AKINCI: a higher angle of attack and a higher speed focused MIUS will be the first step of this phase.

 

[hyperman]

If a solution is wanted in a short time, there is only one solution: To repair the relations between the USA and Turkey. It is impossible as long as Tayyip Erdogan is in power.

I don't see it solving any problem, b/c that doesn't affect the conflict over the the PKK in syria, the US policy isn't changing there no matter who is president. Nor the Issue with Cyprus, nor the Issue with greeks over the Islands or Economic zones and martime borders. I also don't see it solving any issue regarding the Armenian issue, the Armenian and Greek and PKK lobby in Washington is going to still be hostile towards Turkey, and working against its interests, particularly with Bob Menendez(who is the chair of the foreign affairs committee in the senate in congress). I also don't see the Israelis wanting any regional power in the middle east to acquire f-35s, anything that can create a regional power either equal of great to theirs, they will stifle. People always argue about the s-400 taking Turkey out of F-35 program, but Congress would have found an excuse either way to take turkey out, via Turkish operations in northern syria, the s-400 is merely a distraction(they won't even agree to let Turkey just mothball it and just never use it, they want Turkey to hand it over to them, yet the Greeks have an s-300 one that was upgraded recently by the Russians with brand new radars and latest subsystems and can buy the f-35 just fine), not to mention they won't agree to sell Patriots to Turkey which I have my own theories about.

It seems to me the choice is clear, either Turkey falls in line and puts a leash around its neck and gets led around and refrains from taking actions either in syria(where I assume the PKK will entrench further and try to establish a state and then potentially use it for operations inside Turkey, which I'm sure will be cheered on by the likes of Brett McGurk and the rest of the Turkish haters, who have had fantasies of carving up Turkey for hundreds of years) or anywhere surrounding Turkey in the different elements I mentions earlier(armenia, cyprus, greece, etc.) to protect its interests, and in return is given a few privileges(a few engines and likely downgraded avionics f-35), or it pursues an independent foreign policy, protects its own interests, but at the cost of having to source its defense needs via other avenues that would present difficulties at times.

 

[Oublious]

Engines of MIUS was al ready in inventory.

 

[merzifonlu]

Engines of MIUS was al ready in inventory.

But, for only prototypes. As far as I understand, TF-6000 will be used in mass production MIUSs. Very good, I am very happy. A very critical time will thus not be lost.

Since the TF-6000 turbofan engine is developed on the TS-1400 core, and the TS-1400 engine is almost ready, the TF-6000 will be ready when the MIUS is mass produced.

 

[dBSPL]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1500015314360279041

 

[Oublious]

@dBSPL

In a interview Kozan S. Selcuk with Kaner Kurt mentioned that Italian are capable to put a AESA radar on TB2 with a range of 200 km. Imagine with TB3, Aselsan with AESA radar on TB3 with a range of 350km, and you send 3 or 6, no enemy can hide . TCG Anadolu will be a revolution in naval warfare.

 

[Oublious]

In a post insta account of Baykar, they are exported to 19 countries .