ANKA MALE UAV
Designed, developed and produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries
(TAI) under the Turkish UAV Development (TIHA/TUAV) project, the
ANKA (translated: Phoenix) Block-A is now an IOC ready system, and
Aselsan’s AselFLIR-300T FLIR system is installed as the basic mission
payload.
The platform has an endurance of 18+ hours and an operating altitude
of over 23,000ft (during the flight test performed on September 16, 2012
an ANKA Block-A prototype climbed to 25,600ft). As a new player in
MALE UAV market, ANKA Block-A has a 17.3m wingspan, is 8m long and
has a 1,750kg maximum take-off weight. Made up of around 7,000 parts,
261 units and 74 cable bunches of 2,500 cables measuring over 3.5km in
length, ANKA has been configured to carry payloads of more than 200kg,
while carrying 300kg of fuel that provides for 18-hours in the air. Able to
cruise at a speed of 110 knots, the ANKA Block-A UAV can operate at a
distance of up to 200km, using an existing data-link system developed
locally by Savronik. Since ANKA’s wings and empennage units are
detachable from the main fuselage, all components of the ANKA UAV can
fit inside a single 40ft container and can be transported aboard a C-130
Hercules aircraft.
TurAF has already classified the ANKA UAV as “GOZCU-II” and for field
tests one ANKA Block-A UAV prototype (13-005), along with a Ground
Control Station (GCS) and other related ground segment equipment, was
deployed at TurAF’s 14th UAS Base Command located in Batman Air
Base in June 2013. After performing 67 flights (179 flight hours in total)
ANKA prototype was crashed while approaching to the Batman Air Base
for landing. Following the crash ANKA flights have been suspended till the
technical failure that cause the crash was discovered and overcome.
According to TAI sources ANKA prototypes will start flights again in May,
2014
TAI engineers are now focused on the ANKA Block-B version.
Currently, around 200 TAI personnel, including design and production
engineers as well as the ground and flight test crew, are working on the
ANKA UAV programme. The upcoming Block-B configuration will have a
lighter fuselage (160kg lighter than the first ANKA prototype) and higher
performance, and will be equipped with an indigenously developed
SAR/ISAR/GMTI radar, in addition to existing the AselFLIR-300T FLIR
payload. The ANKA Block-B will have a flight ceiling of 30,000ft and an
endurance of 24 hours. Currently there are two ANKA Block-B prototype
under production and the first ANKA Blok-B air vehicle is scheduled to be
ready for test flights June 2014.
In the meantime, under a U$290 Million valued contract awarded in
October 2013 by the SSM, TAI will design, develop, produce and deliver
10 ANKA-S (Serial Production) Systems to the Turkish Air Force. Serial
production ANKA UAVs [ANKA-S] will see a number of amendments to the
configuration: rather than the existing 118kg AselFLIR-300T, the UAVs will
be equipped with an CATS Advanced Targeting System (lighter, and
equipped with a 3rd generation 640x512 mid-wave IR detector) payload,
and will have a SatCom communication capability, while also carrying two
MXF-484 Have Quick radio sets for both air-to-air and air-to-ground communications.
With the entry into service of the ANKA UAV, Turkey becomes the third
country, after the United States and Israel, to market its own MALE UAV
technology. Considering the publicised technical features of the ANKA
MALE UAVs, it can be said that ANKA features at least equivalent, and in
some aspects greater, technical capabilities than its US (ANKA is bigger
than M/RQ-1 PREDATOR, but offers identical features to the GRAY EAGLE
UAV) and Israeli competitors. According to TAI officials, several Middle
Eastern and North African countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar,
the UAE and Jordan, as well as such Asia Pacific countries as Thailand
have already declared an interest in the ANKA MALE UAV System.
In a separate development, TUSAS Engine Industries (TEI), the engine
partner of TAI, was awarded an R&D contract by the SSM on December
27, 2012 for the design, development and delivery of five heavy fuel/diesel
engine prototypes to be installed on ANKA UAVs. According to TEI, the
locally developed piston engine will be equipped with a redundant FADEC
unit and a turbocharger, and will generate 155hp of maximum continuous
power at 2,300rpm. TEI’s diesel engine, boasting a maximum power output
of 165hp (for a period of 3 minutes during take-off), is also able to
meet ANKA UAV’s electrical power (8kW) requirement, even at high altitudes.
Works under the contract will be completed in 48 months in five
phases. Considering the fact that each Thielert Centurion 2.0S engine has
a service life of 1,200 hours, the indigenous engine shall be also used on
ANKA Block-A and Block-B prototypes, in addition to the Serial
Production Phase (ANKA-S) air vehicles. TEI is also modifying some
Thielert Centurion 2.0S diesel engines under the ANKA Engine
Modification and Development Project to ensure proper power output at
higher altitudes, and to meet the ANKA UAV’s specific requirements.
Within the scope of the project, TEI engineers have designed and developed
a new gearbox for the engine, have increased the power of the alternator
and have added a turbocharger to the engine.
