Akinci & Aksungur and Turkish Unmanned Fighter Aircraft Program

[mehmeTcc]

Damn, my knowledge is getting outdated :/

Anyway, my point was: simply turbojet engines always reduce endurance of the aircraft, they are heavy fuel consumers even without afterburner. So for an UAV that is expected to fly over 24+ hours a turbojet is a no-go

gosh, TURAF will be a dreadful force in 2020 ies

What about 30s? A massive force with 100-200 TFX air superiority fighters with 120+ F-35s. Surely TuAF will dominate the entire region.

God, I can't wait to see.

 

[shadow09]

That is the post concerning stealth UCAV of our friend "Pain" (BordoEnes) :

http://www.defence.pk/forums/turkey-defence/169241-turkish-uav-roadmap-2.html

 

[LegionnairE]

Gosh, i have numerous comments under it, how the heck did i forget that

Anyway, neither TEI nor Kalekalıp is there yet. In my opinion we must merge these two corporations. Perhaps even Alp Aviation. Since they all produce engine parts, it'd be better for them to work together for a joint turbojet engine for all Turkey's air assets.

Making engines for small aircraft like UAVs is one thing, making engines for larger scaled commercial and military jets is another.

It takes billions of investment to put it bluntly.

 

[Bubblegum Crisis]

Quote :

KALE AERO will Develop Indigenous Turbojet Engine for SOM ALCM

Oluþturan: 13 March, 2012, 15:56
Savunma ve Havacılık Dergisi

Following the one and half month of intense negotiations between the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) and Kale Aerospace, a subsidiary of the Kale Group, a US$25 Million R&DE contract regarding the design, development, manufacture, testing and delivery of indigenous turbojet engine prototypes was signed between Kale Aero and the SSM on February 22, 2o12 during a ceremony at the Kale Aero facilities in Tuzla, Istanbul. Kale Aero won the contract ahead of TEI, which has been working on turbojet engines (such as 55 lbf rated TJ-55 and 90 lbf rated TJ-90) for Unmanned Air Vehicles since 2oo4.

Kale Aero is a member of F135 Supplier Team and has been delivering critical hardware for F135 engines to Pratt &Whitney since 2oo6. According to SSM officials Kale Aeoro’s victory over TEI is based on its lower bid and its experience in F135 engine component/parts design and manufacturing.

The signing ceremony was attended by Deputy Defence Minister Hasan Kemal YARDIMCI, Undersecretary Murad BAYAR, Deputy Undersecretary and Head of Industrial Services Department Sedat GÜLDOĞAN, Head of SSM R&DE and Technology Management Department Zübeyde ÇAĞLAYAN, Founder and the Honorary President of the Kale Group İbrahim BODUR, Head of the Technical and Chemistry Department of Kale Group Osman OKYAY and Kale Aero Director Cemal İlhan ÖZAYDIN as well as high ranking guests from the SSSM and Turkish defence industries.

The ‘Turbojet Engines Development Project’ of the Turkish Air Force (TuAF), cowering the design and manufacture of indigenous turbojet engines to power locally built cruise missiles, UAVs and jet powered target drones for TuAF, was launched by a Defence Industry Executive Committee (DIEC) decree on December 15, 2o1o, and during its January 5, 2o12 meeting, the DIEC, Turkey’s top decision making body on defence industrial procurement, authorized the SSM to initiate negotiation with Kale Aero, which was selected as a candidate Main Contractor company towards contract award.

Under the terms of the contract, Kale Aero will design and manufacture around 1o turbojet engine prototypes under five phases and within 48 months and following the qualification tests they will be delivered to the TuAF. Serial Production of the indigenous turbojet engines will be performed under a separate contract. Kale Aero built indigenous turbojet engines will replace French Microturbo-made TR-40 turbojet engine currently used on Turkey’s first indigenous Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) dubbed as Stand-Off Munitions (SOM) and will lay the foundation for an integrated jet engine design and production capability for future projects, according to the ministry officials who were present at the signing ceremony. SOM ALCM is designed, developed and produced by TüBiTAK-SAGE, Defence Research and Development Institute of Turkey.

Speaking at the ceremony Head of the Technical and Chemistry Department of Kale Group Osman OKYAY said that indigenous turbojet engine will serve as the propulsion system for guided missiles and with minor modifications it can be used as a propulsion system for UAVs and small class aircraft. OKYAY also stressed that they are targeting to complete project within 48 months and under five phases namely; Requirement Analysis, Preliminary Design, Detailed Design, Prototype Manufacturing and Qualification and added “Under the project 9 technical working groups will be formed and a total of 47 engineers, and academicians as well as 10 technicians will serve under these working groups. Under the project we will also collaborate with Istanbul Technical University and TüBiTAK. Within the scope of the project we will establish a new R&DE Laboratory, where the prototype manufacturing will take place and to perform a total of 26 comprehensive tests including 15 subsystem tests and 11 system tests.”

Deputy Defence Minister Hasan Kemal YARDIMCI underlined that indigenous turbojet engine will initially power SOM cruise missile and will replace exported turbojet engine currently used on the missile and added “Such projects would cut foreign dependency in the defence industry and the Ministry always supported them and we wish these works would increase in number.”

Speaking at the ceremony Undescretary Murad BAYAR stressed that the contract was awarded to Kale Aero following to a strong competition and the government has taken advantage of this completion in terms of project value and project duration and went off saying “Off course this is a technologically difficult project, requires serious work of engineering and high technology. Do not forget that there are only a couple of turbojet engine producers in the world and the technologies to be obtained under this project will lay important the foundations for the future projects. Though it is not an important project in terms of budget but we place great emphasis on this project.”

According to Kale Aero officials indigenous turbojet engine will incorporate the best features of Microturbo’s TR-40 and the undisclosed US turbojet engine (believed to be Teledyne CAE J402 series) and will be in the 3.o kN to 3.6 kN (680 lbf to 810 lbf) thrust class. The engine will run on either JP8 or JP10 fuel and since the engine will be designed for a one-time use missile, its service life will be only 20 minutes.


Indigenous Turbojet Engine Specifications:

Type: Single Spool Turbojet
Major Applications: SOM cruise missile family
Fully Functional Prototype Delivery: 2o16
Length: 72 cm
Diameter: 30 cm
Dry Weight: < 5o kg
Specific Fuel Consumption (SEC): < or = 1.2 kg/daN/hr
Compressor: Various configurations will be studied during design phase including 4 stage axial, 5 stage axial and 1 axial and 1 radial compressor combination.
Turbine: Single Stage
Fuel Type: JP8, JP10
Lubrication System: Grease Pack but fuel lubrication will also be studied.
Generator: Permanent magnet based generator will be mounted on the engine shaft.
Maximum Thrust: 3.0 - 3.6 kN (680 lbf – 810 lbf).


SOM Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) Hits 300 km!

Designed, developed and manufactured by TüBiTAK-SAGE, Defence Research and Development Institute of Turkey, under a US$80 Million valued contract awarded by the Turkish MoND in March 2oo6, the SOM is a family of new generation, air launched non-nuclear, long range, fire and forget type precision strike missiles capable of defeating both fixed non-hardened and hardened land targets as well as moving sea targets. The 1.300 lb (600 kg) SOM ALCM’s airframe is designed with stealth capability provided by the shape of the airframe and the materials used in its construction, to give the missile a low detection probability and allow it to penetrate enemy air defence systems.

Under the project prototype missiles were manufactured in 2oo8 and following extensive wind tunnel and systems tests, captive-carry and release trials were performed from a F-4E 2o2o aircraft in 2o1o. 2o1o also witnessed first live firing test of SOM-A (INS/GPS + TRNS guided version) from a F-4E 2o2o aircraft.

SOM-A aircraft release tests were also performed on a F-16D Block 40 in 2o11. SOM was first displayed aboard a TuAF F-16C Block 50 aircraft during the 100th year celebrations of the Turkish Air Force held at the 2nd MJB Command in Çi&#287;li, Izmir during June 4-5 2o11. During a live firing test performed on August 9, 2o11 with F-4E 2o2o in Black Sea, SOM-A flew more than 100 nm (185km) before hitting its determined target with high accuracy.

SOM’s first international debut was took place during DSEi Exhibition in London UK, where the full-scale mock-up of the missile was displayed at TüBiTAK-SAGE stand in September 2o11. The delivery of a first batch of missiles to the Turkish Air Force was supposed to take place by the end of 2o11. The TuAF requires “hundreds” of SOMs, and serial production of SOM missiles will be carried out by a Turkish Defence Industry company (MKEK and Roketsan are potential candidates) starting from 2o13 since TüBiTAK-SAGE performs only design and prototype production.

Though the missiles effective range was initially announced as 100 nm, (185km) speaking at the press meeting held at TüBiTAK Headquarters in Ankara on January 13, 2o12 to update press members on the recent developments on Turkey’s missile programs President of the TüBiTAK (The Scientific and Technological Researches Council of Turkey) Prof. Dr. Yücel ALTUNBA&#350;AK stated that they have been carrying firing tests with SOM missile up to the range of 300 km and during recent test missile has successfully hit its target at 300 km with circular error probable (CEPs) of 5 meters, even they had goaled 1om CEP. He went on saying, “We are planning to perform 500 km (air launched version, ALCM) range firing tests in 2o12 with SOM.

Later the range will be extended to 1.500km and eventually to 2.500 km (surface launched versions, LACM) in 2o14.” ALTUNBA&#350;AK, also underlined that the order for the extended range missile program had come from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDO&#286;AN.

Powered by a Microturbo TR-40 turbojet engine (in the 2.5 kN to 3.34 kN [560 lbf to 750 lbf) thrust class, the SOM is an indigenously developed high-subsonic cruise missile designed to meet Turkish Air Force requirements. Though it is smaller it shares several features with LFK KEPD-350 Taurus and MBDA Scalp/Storm Shadow missiles. SOM ALCM has three versions; SOM-A is equipped with INS/GPS guidance system plus Terrain Referenced Navigation System (TRNS/TERCOM) coupled with radar altimeter and has 230 kg HE type unitary warhead. SOM-B1 version also has HE type unitary warhead, whereas SOM-B2 is armed with dual-stage tandem penetrator and in addition to GPS/INS they both also employ Imaging Infrared Seeker (IIR, has cooled type 640x512 pixels detector) for enhanced terminal guidance plus TRNS/TERCOM, radar altimeter and Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) system. IIR seeker can be used to provide image-based midcourse navigation (IBN) by taking snapshots of waypoints and comparing them against predicted position to update the navigation system. Intended targets for the SOM ALCM are including command and control facilities, surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites, parked aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters (HAS), strategic assets and surface ships.

Design and development studies on SOM-A and SOM-B1 have been completed and works on SOM-B2 are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2o13. TüBiTAK-SAGE is also working on a two way encrypted RF data-link capability, which will allow in-flight re-tasking against moving targets, for SOM missiles and planned to complete its studies until the missile enters serial production phase.

SOM can be carried internally by the F-35 Lightning II JSF, if the tail fins are folded and TuAF plans to deploy SOM ALCM on F-35As. For this purpose a number of TüBiTAK-SAGE personnel joined Turkey’s JSF Project Team.

The French Microturbo TR-40 turbojet engine, to be replaced with Kale Aero’s indigenous turbojet engine, GPS, INS, IIR detector, ATR sensor and radar altimeter have been sourced from abroad, but algorithms for ATA system, IIR seeker and TRNS have been developed by TüBiTAK-SAGE engineers. The fuel system and warheads on board the SOM ALCMs were also designed locally. TüBiTAK-SAGE has also developed a Mission Planning System, a digital flight control computer with a capacity for up to 50 waypoints and a thermal battery with a service life of 25 minutes for the SOM ALCM family.


SOM ALCM Specifications:

Weight: 600 kg (1.300 lb)
Length: 3.85 m
Warhead: 230 kg (500 lb) HE unitary or Dual Stage Tandem Penetrator
Engine: Microturbo TR-40 turbojet engine
Wingspan: 2.6 m (during flight)
Operational Range: 15onm, (500km will be tested in 2o12)
Cruise Speed: Mach 0.8
Guidance System: INS/GPS, TRNS/TERCOM, ATR, IIR, radar altimeter + two way RF data link
Launch Platform: F-4E 2o2o, F-16D and F-35A (planned)

 

[cabatli_53]

It is not an UAV but an USV. I wonder what they exported? Global Teknik's USV maybe?

Aselsan Denizci and Dalgic

ASELSAN DENIZCI DALGIC | PC Hatti | Facebook

Dalgic

Denizci

 

[Saithan]

The Turkish army has ordered the Turkish Aerospace Industry Corp. (TUSA&#350 to replace the Israeli-made flight control computer system with domestically produced ones in the first national unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as the Anka (Phoenix).

According to sources who requested to remain anonymous, officials from the General Staff made the move after they discovered that a crashed Anka had an Israeli system in it. The sources told Today's Zaman that the imported flight computer systems have built-in software which might conflict with new software downloaded into the system, even though the manufacturer did not mean to cause such a breakdown. The conflict poses a threat to the flight safety of the UAVs.

The Ankas have completed many successful test flights, but troubles surrounding the UAVs do not seem to end. Last month an Anka crashed after it lost contact with the ground control center. Performance tests on the Anka began on Sept. 24. The accident occurred three days later during a test session which was being watched by representatives from the General Staff.

The sources said that if the Anka did not crash that day, the tests would have continued in the southeastern province of Batman and the Anka would have started to take an active role in the country's fight against terrorism. The accident resulted in a postponement of the date when the Anka would start operating, they said, but added that there is no major problem.

TUSA&#350; is continuing with test flights with other prototypes. The sources said: &#8220;In these kinds of projects, aircraft might crash. Some delays can be seen; this is normal. But the vital parts must be domestic. It is not right to purchase flight control computer systems from Israel. Once serial production begins, we expressed that we wanted a locally manufactured flight control computer.&#8221;

Speaking about the issue, TUSA&#350; officials confirmed that the control computers had been bought from Israel but the software installed in them is domestic. While highlighting that efforts to produce a national flight control system have begun, the officials said they will meet the requests of the General Staff.

The flight control computers resemble boxes, reminiscent of batteries. A more vital issue about these computers is the software installed in them. This software controls the basic flight functions of the aerial vehicle, including the engine, landing gear and fault management mechanism.

Meanwhile, the most recent Defense Industry Implementation Committee (SS&#304;K) meeting, which was attended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo&#287;an and Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, highlighted that the engines of Ankas must be replaced with stronger ones. In the next phase of the test flights, the Ankas will be armed.

The UAVs are important in Turkey's intensified fight against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has stepped up its terrorist attacks against Turkish security forces, civilians and businesses in southeast Turkey.

source: Army orders replacement of Israeli-made computer in national UAV

 

[Archdemon]

Israeli computer in indigenous Turkish UAV? no......

 

[TR.1]

Israeli computer in indigenous Turkish UAV? no......

what?? wth you doing here troll

 

[TurAr]

The Turkish army has ordered the Turkish Aerospace Industry Corp. (TUSA&#350 to replace the Israeli-made flight control computer system with domestically produced ones in the first national unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as the Anka (Phoenix).

(...)

Speaking about the issue, TUSA&#350; officials confirmed that the control computers had been bought from Israel but the software installed in them is domestic. While highlighting that efforts to produce a national flight control system have begun, the officials said they will meet the requests of the General Staff.

Haven't noticed this article until i saw Archdemon's mental-masturbation attempt. But this time, i guess he has a right to have a boner.

I didn't know the prototypes were flying with Israeli-made flight control systems to this day...

 

[Archdemon]

what?? wth you doing here troll

ISRAELI computers in Turkish "indigenous" UAV

Average Turk:

we dont need israeli crap, we have our own better...

 

[TurAr]

ISRAELI computers in Turkish "indigenous" UAV

Average Turk:

Nope,

Avarage Turk:

It would be better if we produce our own products rather than relying on Israeli ones.

 

[TR.1]

ISRAELI computers in Turkish "indigenous" UAV

Average Turk:

Look mentally disturbed guy, we was using herons so probably they work with Israeli computers. We don't need no Israel things we produce quality with no US aid and all the things we get help from are clearly labelled or even said by us although minimal for most things, and not hidden like you guys do until somebody picks it up and all the American help so shhhh

 

[Saithan]

Haven't noticed this article until i saw Archdemon's mental-masturbation attempt. But this time, i guess he has a right to have a boner.

I didn't know the prototypes were flying with Israeli-made flight control systems to this day...

I think it's very disturbing that the project has been running for so long without this being discovered. I think this might be proof that under the surface Turkey still has ties with Israel. Off the record so to speak.

 

[TurAr]

I think it's very disturbing that the project has been running for so long without this being discovered. I think this might be proof that under the surface Turkey still has ties with Israel. Off the record so to speak.

I really don't care if we have ties with Israel or not, what bothers me is that it would harm the reliability of our defence sector if the new is true.

 

[BordoEnes]

ISRAELI computers in Turkish "indigenous" UAV

Average Turk:

Precisly what kind of Israeli components is installed in Anka?