Update: TAI’s Anka UAV continues ground tests
TAI Anka unmanned aerial vehicle during a test flight without its Aselsan-built FLIR system.
Turkish Aerospace Indurstry’s (TAI) first MALE (medium altitute-long indurance) class unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) “Anka” completed its maiden flight on December 30, 2010 in Sivrihisar. According to reports by well-placed TRDEFENCE sources, this first flight lasted for 14 minutes and was generally deemed successful.
This much celebrated flight’s one and only mishap, however, apperantly took place during the first actual runway landing of the Anka UAV.
Sources within TAI reported that a sudden and unexpected loss of propulsion, only seconds before touch down of the landing gear, might have subjected the aircraft to more shock than the landing system’s suspension mechanism was designed to handle. Technicians insist that the damage was minor and the flight was still considered a success because the reported near “crash” landing happened within allowed parameters of decend per second.
No critical parts were damaged and the hull of the aircraft, weighting well over a ton, remains intact and capable of further flights.
With the exception of the engine from Germany, Anka was fully designed and manufactured by TAI to meet the Turkish and allied forces’ requirement for strategic reconnaissance capability that require bigger unmanned aircraft that feature heavy payloads and long loiter time over enemy territory.
TAI’s sister company, TEI, is currently working on an indigenous Turkish engine to power the Anka and other similar platforms in the near future.
TAI plans to equip the aircraft by August 2011 with Aselsan’s AselFLIR 300T electrooptics complex for infrared surveillance and mobile target designation capability and a miniature SAR radar developed by the same company. These two instruments will constitute the main standard payload of the aircraft.
Anka is capable of flying at an altitude of 10 kilometers with an endurance of 24 hours, giving the aircraft a superior loiter time beyond the reach of most short to medium altitude defence guns and missiles.
Deliveries to Turkish Armed Forces will start in the first quarter of 2012.
TAI plans to also capitalize on export prospects to certain Caspian and Middle Eastern countries.
TRDEFENCE
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