Turkish Aerospace which is developing the ANKA-III Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) and Aselsan have successfully completed an important milestone related to weapons integration.
Just prior to the commencement of SAHA Expo, Turkish Aerospace announced that a Tolun Precision Guided Munition (PGM) fired from an ANKA-III had successfully struck a target. According to Turkish Aerospace, the ANKA-III achieved the direct hit on the target from 20,000 feet at a speed of 180 knots. Aselsan’s Tolun is an integrated GPS/INS guided munition that can be launched from an air platform via a Multi-Carrier-Shell (MTS) and used against hard and soft land targets. It has a range of 102 km and the warhead can drill through 1 meter of reinforced concrete.
“We proved our local and national power once again with a task that required high sensitivity. We will continue to take our technology to the top with determination and perseverance,” Dr Mehmet Demiroğlu, General Manager, Turkish Aerospace said in a tweet. “We watched this special moment that took place in Konya Karapınar online from Istanbul Teknopark. I heartily congratulate the entire team. To many more successes!” Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, President of the Defence Industry Agency (SSB), tweeted.
The ANKA-III UCAV successfully completed its maiden flight in December 2023 and according to Dr Mehmet Demiroğlu, “The Anka III is being designed primarily to meet the needs of the Turkish Air Force. We are pretty much where we want to be in terms of the programme schedule, in fact, I would say we are ahead of schedule. We require to perform some flight testing along with the air force, some additional fine-tuning of various aspects of the platform and then we will look to start series production.”
He added, “We are looking to have at least two flying prototypes, maybe more depending on the need. The trials could take six months to a year. There is interest in the programme from potential export customers, but it is still too early to talk about exports.
The ANKA-III UCAV has lower radar visibility thanks to its flying-wing configuration, the high speed provided by the turbofan engine, and the high carrying capacity of the internal stations, will significantly strengthen the country's defence. The stealth drone is designed to operate at 40,000 feet, reach a speed of Mach 0.7, and stay airborne for up to 10 hours, with a take-off weight of approximately seven tonne. The ANKA-III builds on Turkish Aerospace’s engineering expertise and over 250,000 hours of flight experience gained with ANKA and Aksungur.
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