Turkey's UAV the 'ANKA': The terrorists' nightmare

Turkish engineers have made great progress in recent years in unmanned aerial vehicle technology. Produced with national capital, Turkey's largest unmanned aerial vehicle was named after the legend of the Phoenix, ANKA Kuşu, meaning “Phoenix bird", which intends to be the best UAV in the world by being able to reach a 30,000 feet altitude, being capable of monitoring 24 hours a day and capable of carrying a cargo.

Designed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) engineers and many local sub-contractor firms, the Turkish ANKA, advanced Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) class UAV System, has been developed to meet the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces.

Upon the completion of the installation and production, ANKA, launched its first successful fly on July 16, 2010.

The military UAV is aimed to be the best in the world in its category with its hangar departure and engine ignition system.

Day and night, even in bad weather conditions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, fixed / moving target detection, recognition, identification and tracking, this UAV can carry out real-time video intelligence tasks.

Presently, ANKA is one of the few unmanned systems that can function in this class, and in order to fulfill those tasks the UAV is loaded with the Electro Optics Day Camera (EOD ), Day (EO – electro optic ) / Infrared (IR - infrared) / Laser Range Finder ( LRF -Laser Range Finder) , Laser Pointer ( LD -Laser Designator ), and with the Spotter SAR / MTI- ISR radar.

The aircraft designed with a fully composite structure consists of components such as; mono block frame, detachable wings and V-tail with folding landing gear, spare control surfaces, equipment compartments and service hatches. In the structural composite or where ever needed, metal components, keel and frame access platforms can be found. Rear-wheel drive, piston-propeller type engine platform, internal body fuel system; aileron leading edge, ice prevention/removal systems of propeller and other equipment; according to the heating/cooling needs, ANKA includes various sub-systems such as environmental conditioning systems.

Besides these, in the UAV is a variety of flight sensors connected to the flight control computer: (pilot -static sensor, EGU ( integrated GPS / INS ), motion / temperature / pressure sensors, etc.) , actuators, communication and identification systems, mission control, recording and monitoring systems the interface units, avionics units and control units are available.

In the last few years in Turkey, while serious progress in the defense industry caught many people's attention, the significance of the inventory of the national solutions has increased by developing the unmanned aerial vehicle security unit (UAV) to fulfill the country's needs.

In this context, while the work continues on tactical UAVs for police use, the Gendarmerie Command is also planning to deploy the UAV as well. The use of unmanned aerial systems in Turkey started when the" Banshee" aircraft entered the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) inventory in 1989.

Important capabilities that were converged in UAV studies in Turkey, such as a fixed wing, multirotor, rotary wing and balloon platforms as well as sub-components, also gained significant capabilities. The original sub-components developed in this process was introduced in the platform.

Bayraktar mini UAV system is still being used by the Land Forces Command, the Gendarmerie General Command, Special Forces Command and the Police Headquarters.

Turkey's UAVs are also being exported abroad. Qatar had ordered 10 of these systems. "Malazgirt Mini Unmanned Helicopter System" draws attention with its nationally developed and manufactured electronic hardware, software, aircraft design and as being the first system used by the Armed Forces.

Developed by TAI, the main deployer of "ANKA", Turkey's Air Force Command has projected plans to supply the UAV to the Police Headquarters. The ANKA development Project, signed in 2013, is scheduled to put the "ANKA-S, armed drone that can carry aircraft ordnance such as missiles, into service in 2017.

Wingspan: 17.3 meters

Length: 8 meters

Endurance: 24 hours

Altitude ceiling: 30,000 ft.

System features:

Fully autonomous operation, back-up flight control system, back-up automatic stay landing system , back-up electrical power systems , back-up data link , electro -throw ice protection system , and portability with the A400M / C-130 aircraft.

In order to build a strong foreign policy for a strong Turkey, the government states that a powerful military is needed, attaching great importance to the development of the domestic defense industry. Turkey, which produces its own weapons and technology, no longer derives most of its needs from foreign countries and instead draws on its own industry.