ANKARA, Turkey—Turkish Aerospace is developing a family of uncrewed combat air vehicles (UCAV) based on its newly developed Anka-3 platform, company officials say.
Publicly revealing the 7-metric ton, flying-wing UCAV during the company’s 50th anniversary here May 1, Turkish Aerospace officials told Aerospace DAILY that the company is exploring the development of four differently sized UCAVs.
Omer Yildiz, general manager of company’s UAV business, also revealed that the Anka-3 had been developed in record time, with the company rolling out the first prototype in April, just 16 months after its board made the decision to develop the air vehicle in January 2022.
The efforts have been bolstered by the company’s earlier research into unstable tailless aircraft using scale models, as well as its work on the family of Anka and Aksungur medium-altitude, long-endurance air systems that the company has developed and successfully exported.
Anka-3 makes use of systems developed for earlier Anka platforms. The current prototype features several external aerials and an engine exhaust protruding from the rear of the aircraft that would potentially betray the platform’s radar cross section, but the company is aiming to design out many of these features to give the aircraft an all-aspect low-observable capability. Roles for the aircraft include deep strike and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
For the attack mission, two internal bays are each able to carry four indigenously developed small diameter bombs, while external pylons enable the aircraft to carry heavier weaponry, including the SOM-J standoff missile.
Payload capacity is around 1,200 kg (2,650 lb.). The powerplant for the aircraft is an undisclosed, Ukrainian-supplied, 5,000-lb. thrust engine.
Yildiz said Anka-3 would likely complement the “air-to-air mission optimized” Baykar Kizilelma UCAV, which is currently in flight test and recently performed formation flights with a Turkish Air Force F-16 and the country’s Turkish Stars aerobatic display team during the Teknofest exhibition in Istanbul, held April 27-May 1. The company had hoped to perform a first flight during the event on May 1, but technical problems prevented it from taking place; the milestone now is expected to occur in the coming weeks.
It has also emerged that the company is further developing its Simsek target drone as an additive capability that could support manned fighters. The company is examining turning Simsek into a modular system that could carry up to 11 different payloads including jammers and electronic warfare decoys, as well as giving them a warhead for a long-range or loitering strike capability. Simseks were displayed with the Anka-3 during the event.
Yildiz also revealed that work on a maritime patrol version of the twin-engine Aksungur was also underway for the Turkish Navy with plans for the integration of a lightweight torpedo, sonobuoys and potentially a domestically developed magnetic anomaly detector.
Development of Anka-3 builds on the uncrewed aircraft system development road map launched by the country’s defense industry agency SSB a decade ago.
