The TAI Anka is a family of unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries
for the requirements of its Turkish Armed Forces. Basic Anka-A is classified as Medium
Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Envisioned in the early 2000s for tactical
surveillance and reconnaissance missions, the Anka has made progress towards the integration
of Synthetic Aperture Radar and combat systems. Anka has made Turkey the 3rd country in the
world that can design and produce MALE UAV's after USA and Israel. The name of the drone
is inspired from a phoenix-like mythological creature Angha.
Design A TUAV system consists of three air vehicles,
Ground Control Station, Ground Data Terminal, Automatic Take-off and Landing System, Transportable
Image Exploitation System, Remote Video Terminal and various Ground Support Equipment.
The TUAV system, which is designed for night and day missions including adverse weather
conditions, performs real time image intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, moving/stationery
target detection, recognition, identification and tracking missions.
While the TIHA system has an open architecture to support other potential payloads and missions,
within the context of the existing project the air vehicle is configured to carry the
following payloads onboard: Electro-optic Color Day Camera
Electro-optic/Forward Looking Infrared/Laser Range Finder/Laser Designator and Spotter
Camera Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target
Indicator Inverse SAR
The whole composite airframe is composed of a monoblock fuselage, detachable wing and
V-Tail, retractable landing gear, redundant control surfaces, avionics and payload bays
and service doors. The sandwich skin structure is reinforced by composite or metallic frames,
ribs and supports. Propelled by a pusher type heavy fuel engine, the aircraft is furnished
with fuselage fuel tanks and fuel system, ice protection system, environmental control
system, lighting system, redundant electrical system with battery backup and harness system.
The platform is also equipped with a digital flight control system, electro-mechanical
actuators, and flight control sensor systems such as GPS, pitot-static, air data computer,
navigation sensor, transducers, temperature, pressure, displacement sensors, etc. Various
tasks are distributed along flight management computers and auxiliary control boxes. Identification
and communication units and interface computers are employed in order to establish real time
wide band communication and provide test and diagnostics functions. An air traffic radio
is also integrated in the communication system for the integration of the aircraft into the
civilian airspace. All flight critical equipment are dual or triple redundant and emergency
modes of operational scenarios are taken into consideration for fail safe design.
All airborne and ground based flight control software is developed by TAI while payload
hardware and software items are aimed to be developed by national sub-contractors, such
as Aselsan and Milsoft. UAV operations are supported by highly sophisticated
ground control system with complete redundancy, developed by a domestic defence company Savronik.
Whole mission segments of the air vehicle can be managed, monitored and controlled by
a GCS. A pre-programmed mission plan can be loaded before the flight begins or can be
altered during the flight. All the imagery stream of the payloads can be displayed and
recorded in real time and all the payloads can be controlled from the GCS. ATOLS allows
the air vehicle to perform its operation without operator intervention, including the most
critical phases which are landing and take-off. In TIES, valuable intelligence information
can be obtained by the analysis of bulky imagery data. TIES operators can initiate intelligence
missions prior to or during flight. Refined information flows to the upper command layer
in order to assist the headquarters to monitor a network of TUAV systems and benefit from
the gathered intelligence information. Another interface of the TUAV system is the RVT, with
which other friendly units who are close to the target area can utilize the real time
imagery that TUAV air vehicle broadcasts. Development
The contract regarding the development of an indigenous Medium Altitude Long Endurance
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle system for the reconnaissance requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces became
effective on 24 December 2004. Within the framework of the program, a total of three
prototypes and ground systems will be designed, developed, manufactured and tested by mid-2011
as part of the prototype development phase. Subsequently in 2012, the serial production
phase of Anka-A would be launched and additional 10 systems built for the Turkish Air Force.
On 30 December 2010, the first TAI Anka unmanned aerial vehicle completed its debut flight,
with 14 minutes of cruising, at 15:45 local time. Defence Minister Vecdi Gönül confirmed
the flight. On 5 May 2011, TAI released the test flight
video of Anka. Anka-A flew a test and calibration mission of 2h 30m.
Turkish Aerospace Industries announced on 25 October 2011 that the ANKA had successfully
completed its subsequent flight and landing tests and that it will now be in the Turkish
Air Force inventory in 2012 that is much earlier than expected. Footage released by TAI also
shows the ANKA landing successfully putting all speculation abouts its crash landings
to rest. On 22 November 2011, the Anka held the follow-up
test flight for 6 hours at 20,000 ft. The vehicle demonstrated its automatic take-off
and landing system for the first time. On 5 January 2012, Defence Industry Executive
Committee authorized Undersecretariat for Defence Industries to commence talks with
Turkish Aerospace Industries for the serial production of 10 Anka vehicles.
On 27 September 2012, an Anka prototype crashed during a flight test due to a technical problem.
On 20 January 2013, Anka completed acceptance tests by the Turkish Air Force. The final
acceptance tests were conducted near Ankara, and involved an 18 hour long, 200 km ring
flight. The tests also included a night landing in adverse weather conditions. The Anka has
flown more than 140 hours and reached and altitude of 26,000 feet.
On 13 May 2013, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra handed over the first batch
of Anka UAV parts to Turkish Aerospace Industries during IDEF 2013 at Istanbul, Turkey.
Development of Anka +A On 19 July 2012, the Turkish Defense Industry
Executive Committee announced that Turkish Aerospace Industries had commenced research
and development for the design and development of a "hunter killer" High Altitude Long Endurance
version of the ANKA UAV, named the Anka +A. It is planned that Anka +A will carry Cirit
missiles of Turkey's Roketsan. The engines of Anka +A UCAV has not yet been determined.
It may have more powerful turbo engines or it could have gas turbine engine. The weight
of Anka +A UCAV will be more than 4 tons compared to Anka UAV's 1.5 tons. It is highly expected
that the UCAV will be presented to public in the events of IDEF'13 on 7-10 May 2013.
Variants Future variants of Anka will have larger payload
capacity extending its current capabilities under the following features:
SATCOM SIGINT
Armament- Air to Ground and Air to Air missile integration
The TAI Anka will also eventually have an indigenous 155 hp Turbo prop engine developed
by Tusaş Engine Industries with cooperation with other Turkish companies in the future.
ANKA-TP A 5+ Ton, Turbo-prop powered, High Altitude
Long Endurance version of the ANKA is also being planned.
TAI officials have announced that the Strategic Unmanned Aerial Vehicle version named ANKA-TP
will feature a new mission computer, airframe and have the ability to carry between 1 to
1.5 Tons in armament. It will have a span of 23 meters, speed of between 200 to 250
knots and a cruising altitude of 40,000+ ft. Export
On 23 November 2012, Egypt contracted with Turkish Aerospace Industries to purchase 10
Anka UAV's. In April 2013, Saudi Arabian officials expressed
interest in the Anka UAV. Specifications
General characteristics Crew: none
Length: 26.2 ft Wingspan: 56.7 ft
Height: 11.1 ft Wing area: 146.3 sq ft
Max. takeoff weight: 3527 lb Powerplant: 1 × Thielert Centurion 2.0 turbocharged
four-cylinder engine, 155 hp Performance
Maximum speed: 135 mph Cruise speed: 126 mph
Range: 3024 mi Combat radius: 124 mi
Endurance: 24 hours with 200 kg useful payload Service ceiling: 30,000 ft
Avionics ASELFLIR-300T, SAR/GMTI, ISAR payload
INS/GPS and air data sensor suite system See also
Unmanned Air Vehicle Joint Direct Attack Munition
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
MQ-1 Predator MQ-1C Warrior
IAI Heron Shahed 129
Fotros Related lists
List of unmanned aerial vehicles References
External links Turkish Aerospace Industries
TAI Anka Documentary TAI Anka Presentation
Flight Global: Turkey reveals MALE UAV details East West Studies: Turkish Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle Program