By Gayle Putrich
Turkey’s first unmanned aerial vehicle quietly made its first flight 30 December, according to Turkish defence officials.
Called the Anka – which translates to “phoenix” in English – the 10m-long (33ft) composite UAV flew for about 14 minutes. It is designed to stay aloft for up to 24h with a 200kg (441lb) payload.
The Anka-A, the surveillance version of the aircraft, was unveiled 16 July has cost more than $100 million to design and develop. The sensor kit, being built by Aselsan, includes the company’s Aselflir-300T electro-optical/infra red (EO/IR) sensor and a synthetic aperture radar/ ground moving target indicator. The EO/IR sensor is expected to reach initial operational capability by September, with both up and running by the close of 2011. Turkish Aerospace Industries is also reportedly developing an armed version of the UAV, the Anka-B.
Turkey quickly followed up the medium-altitude long-endurance Anka’s first flight with a another boost to the country’s growing UAV industry — a 4 January agreement between the Turkish defence industry undersecretariat and the Turkey-based Vestel Defense Corporation to develop a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle for the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). The ministry aims to end Turkey’s need to import its military’s UAVs, says defence minister Vecdi Gonul.
“I am happy to express that, with the mini and tactical unmanned aerial vehicles and ANKA unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by the Turkish Aerospace Industries, Turkey’s dependency on foreign sources for the supply of the unmanned aerial vehicles has ended, Gonul also said.
Vestel, a defence subsidiary of a Turkish home appliance and electronics company, is developing the Karayel tactical UAV, which will fly up to 20h at an altitude of 22,000ft with a payload of up to 80kg (176lbs).
via Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 Aircraft News from Flightglobal.