TAI ANKA UAV. (Photo : Turkish Air Force)
Unconfirmed reports claim Turkey's new TAI ANKA-S Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be transformed into a UCAV (unmanned combat aerial vehicle) after the first deliveries of this drone are made to the Turkish Air Force this year.
ANKA-S is the serial production variant of the ANKA UAV and became operational with the air force in February 2016. The UAV is being made by Tusas Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
This UAV is a day-and-night intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) weapon equipped with a high-definition (HD) electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor turret that includes laser designator and laser range finding capabilities
It's given birth to other variants, one of which is ANKA+A, a High Altitude Long Endurance UCAV. First broached in 2012, ANKA+A was to have carried the Roketsan Cirit laser-guided, air-to-surface anti-armor rocket system. Nothing has been heard of this variant since then, however.
The Turkish Undersecretariat for Defense Industry (SSM) ordered 10 ANKA-S UAVs and 12 ground control stations. The UAVs will be delivered in three batches with the first by March 2017. The air force will receive six ANKA-S UAVs this year.
ANKA-S began flight tests in the last quarter of 2016. The drone is currently undergoing a tough qualification process.
It's unclear if the UCAV version of ANKA-S will be the discontinued ANKA+A or a new variant altogether.
ANKA-S can lift a payload of 200 kilograms to a maximum altitude of 30,000 feet and remain on station for 24 hours. The satcom-compatible ANKA-S features a high-definition day and night vision camera.
The Turkish Air Force considers ANKA-S a strategic asset, especially in the Turkish military's fight against Kurdish militants deployed largely in southeast Turkey and in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
It said it urgently needed UCAVs to increase its intelligence capabilities in its asymmetrical warfare against Kurdish militants. What it needs are both medium-altitude, long-endurance or high-altitude, long-endurance models.
