Tag: Anka

Turkey to replace F-16s with local jets

Turkey eyes replacing F-16s with locally produced fighter jets by 2023, Turkey’s defense undersecretary said yesterday.

Turkish arms manufacturer TAI has signed a technical assistance deal with Swedish Saab on technical assistance to build a fighter jet that will replace the F-16s.

“We’re working on the conceptual design of a new fighter jet that will replace our F-16 fighters,” Defense Industry Undersecretary Murad Bayar said yesterday on the sidelines of the two-day International Air&Space Power (ICAP) Conference being held in Istanbul.

Recently, Turkish arms manufacturer TAI has signed a technical assistance deal with Swedish Saab on technical assistance to build a fighter jet, as Daily News reported.

Turkish officials have been in talks with Saab (and with Korean Aerospace Industries) to find the best modality for the ambitious project of building its own fighter since 2010 and 2011. In August 2011, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, signed a deal with TAI to carry out the conceptual design work for fighter and jet trainer aircraft Turkey hopes to build.

In recent months a Turkish delegation, including SSM officials, visited Saab headquarters and production facilities in Sweden. And more recently, TAI and Saab penned a preliminary agreement for technical assistance which will pave the way for a subsequent support deal.

In yesterday’s statements, Bayar said the project of designing a local fighter began last year and after some trials one of the designs has matured.

After completing the design phase, the undersecretary will make an offer on developing a fighter to the Defense Industry Executive Committee, the highest defense procurement body of Turkey, which includes Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz, Chief of the Turkish General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, as well as Bayar himself.

Recalling that Turkey had been one of the partners in the multinational Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) consortium that builds F-35 fighters, Bayar said the roles of the new model to be developed and the F-35 would be different. Therefore, new fighters will be configured as air-to-air planes and they will complement each other with F-35s.

Defense sources had told to Daily News that the program was exposed to the risk of a prolonged conceptual design and this would make the whole project “not very meaningful.”

ANKA to be developed

Meanwhile, asked about how Turkey’s recently launched Göktürk-2 satellite would serve the Turkish Armed Forces, Bayar said the satellite would provide intelligence to Turkey by taking photos of certain regions, which will be used in the operational plans of the army. The first visuals have already arrived, he said.

In addition, he said Turkey also had ambitious plans to develop and upgrade its unmanned aircraft, ANKA.

“The new ANKA will be 4 tons, [the current model is 1.5 tons] and its carrying power, capabilities and sensors will be developed accordingly,” Bayar said, stressing that this would be one of the most important projects of the upcoming period.

via SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY – Turkey to replace F-16s with local jets.

April 6, 2013
Turkish defence industry aims high

By Justin Vela in Istanbul

Turkey is moving up in defence manufacturing with the commercial development of the ANKA, its first domestically-made drone (pictured).

It’s the product of an industry that’s largely state-owned but one that is expanding its $14bn-a-year revenues, and creating investment opportunities through privatisation. First for a likely stock market launch is ANKA’s maker, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the second largest company in the sector.

Like most Turkish defence contractors, TAI is a subsidiary of the country’s Armed Forces Foundation (TSKGV). It is expected to be listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) later this year, according to Arda Mevlutoglu, a Turkish defence analyst, who says the pioneering sale could pave the way for others.

“Going [public] is part of a wider strategic plan to make TAI a global player,” Mevlutoglu said. “If the formula works well, it may be applied to other major contractors as well.”

TAI didn’t respond to a request for comment in time for publication. The ANKA unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is one of TAI’s latest developments, with a 56-foot wingspan, a top speed of 75 knots per hour, and a maximum altitude of 30,000 feet.

The Anka completed military testing in late January and is set for serial production. Turkey aims to export the drone around the region, with the Egyptian government reportedly signing an agreement last November to buy 10 of the drones.

On March 6, Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul showed the ANKA to Jordan’s King Abdullah, along with other military products, such as the T-129 “ATAK” combat helicopter, a $3.2bn joint project between TAI and the Anglo-Italian helicopter company AgustaWestland.

In 2012, Turkey exported about $1.2bn worth of defence equipment, a 35.7 per cent rise over 2011. The main export destinations were the US ($490m), United Arab Emirates ($101m), and Saudi Arabia ($99m). The industry is aiming for $2bn in exports by 2016.

Mevlutoglu noted that Turkey’s Undersecretary for Defense Industries (SSM) has a regional office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia “for overseeing and coordinating export activities in the region.”

In February 2013, Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan signed a $196.2m deal to provide the UAE military with its Cirit laser-guided rocket system. This is the first foreign sale of Cirit, which is billed as a relatively low-cost precision strike system equipped with 70mm rockets that have a range of eight kilometers.

“Turkey is trying to develop low-cost highly reliable weapons that aren’t as expensive as the US systems, but that match the capabilities,” said Aaron Stein, a researcher at Istanbul’s Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies. “That allows Turkey to fill a niche market. It will take time, but…it is state policy to do this.”

Roketsan is also partnered with US-based arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin to produce canisters for its PAC-3 missile.

Other Turkish weapons include the Altay tank, a $400m project produced by Otokar, a subsidiary of Turkey’s Koc Holding, the country’s largest listed conglomerate. South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem and Turkey’s Roketsan and Aselsan, a publicly-listed military communications and electronics company, are among the project’s sub-contractors. Serial production is expected to start in 2015.

Otokar also produces the Cobra armored vehicle, which is currently exported to a number of countries around the world, including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Pakistan.

Turkey’s desire to foster its domestic defence industry dates back to the 1980′s and is partly aimed at decreasing dependence on buying “off the shelf” military goods from the US, Stein said.

“It’s a platform for Turkey to develop high-technology exports.”

The increased exports will also help ease Turkey’s current account deficit, which is expected to be 7-8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013.

However, the increase in arms exports has raised some concerns about weapons proliferation in the region. The US Congress has long blocked the sale of drones to Turkey, citing incidents such as the accidental killing of 40 Kurdish civilians from the southern town of Uludere by the Turkish Air Force of in December 2011.

With the ANKA headed for serial production, TAI has already begun developing an armed version of the drone called the ANKA +A that will be outfitted with Cirit missiles from Roketsan.

Stein noted that the increased weapons exports could contradict Turkey’s stated goal of preventing weapons proliferation in the Middle East, but ultimately sales were too small to alter the balance of power in the region.

He says: “Sometimes commercial interests supersede non-proliferation commitments. Sometimes the two are at odds with each other. It depends which Turkey chooses.”

via Turkish defence industry aims high | beyondbrics.

March 9, 2013
Turkey To Buy 10 Locally Made Anka Drones

ANKARA — Turkey is preparing to sign a contract for 10 locally made UAV systems dubbed the Anka, procurement authorities said. They did not specify a contract price.

Murad Bayar, Turkey’s chief procurement official, told reporters that a final round of talks for the contract involving the 10 UAVs and their ground control stations is underway. He said the contract would be signed in the next couple of months.

This will mark Turkey’s first purchase of UAVs designed, developed and manufactured indigenously. Bayar promised the Anka would incorporate “progressive design and features.”

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), maker of the Anka, said the UAV had successfully passed acceptance tests late in January. TAI officials said the final, decisive tests on Jan. 20-21 involved a full endurance, 18-hour flight, a successful auto landing, data link performance at a distance of 200 kilometers under winds up to 45 knots, and night takeoffs and landings. The Anka has registered 140 flight hours.

Meanwhile, procurement officials said the Turkish police force also is preparing to order the Anka, which means more funding for “fine-tuning efforts” as part of the program.

In December, Turkey’s defense procurement agency, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) and Tusas Engine Industries (TEI), a private company, signed an agreement under which the company will develop and produce engines for the Anka.

The protocol was signed at the main office of the agency in Ankara. SSM Chairman Murad Bayar said at the ceremony that building the engine was even more difficult than building the aircraft. However, TEI General Manager Akn Duman said the body had enough infrastructure for the project.

Anka is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) vehicle; such UAVs usually operate for 24 hours at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

Anka, meaning Phoenix in English, is the first MALE-type UAV to be produced by TAI. Several prototypes have been produced with other engines. One of the prototypes crashed during a test flight in September but several other flight tests have been carried out successfully.

A version called Anka+ calls for an armed vehicle, using a rocket attached to its body and sensors.

via Turkey To Buy 10 Locally Made Anka Drones | Defense News | defensenews.com.

March 5, 2013