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Drone wars: Turkey ups homegrown options
ANKARA, Turkey — The growing asymmetrical threats on both sides of Turkey’s border with Syria and Iraq have compelled the country’s military, procurement and industry officials to step up efforts to boost new drone programs, even as allies continue to hold back on support.
Perhaps one of the most telling signs of progress is completion of the development phase of a program to build the country’s first drone engine.
Officials with Turkey’s national engine maker, Tusas Engine Industries say the PD170 engine has successfully gone through initial tests, meeting all performance criteria. Nearly five years in the making, TEI has been working on the PD170 since December 2012 when it signed a development contract with Turkey’s procurement authority, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, or SSM. The 2.1-liter turbo-diesel PD170 can produce 170 horsepower at 20,000 feet, and 130 horsepower at 30,000 feet. It can generate power at a maximum altitude of 40,000 feet.
Turkey Looks to Enrich Drone Fleet
Facing multiple asymmetrical security threats, Turkey increasingly relies on a strategy to enrich its inventory of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) types. Most recently, Turkey’s procurement agency released two requests for information (RFI) to task industry with research on two new types of drones.
The ‘brave man’ and the ‘falcon’
Meanwhile, government-owned defense technologies company STM says it started a mass production program for a series of new drones with high-tech capabilities. These drones will be used by the Turkish military for anti-terrorism operations in the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeast where fighting between the government and Kurdish insurgency has claimed more than 40,000 lives since 1984.
SSM’s chief, Undersecretary Ismail Demir, said now under mass production are what officials dub “kamikaze drones.” The first deliveries to the Turkish military would begin later this year. The “autonomous kamikaze drones” have a strike-and-hit capability. They are equipped with artificial intelligence algorithms for monitoring.
One of the drones is the Alpagu, or “brave man” in ancient Turkic languages. The Alpagu can be manually or autonomously operated, has fixed wings and can be launched from a lancer. It can be made ready for launch within 45 seconds.
The Togan, translated to “falcon” in ancient Turkish, was developed for monitoring purposes and uses AI algorithms. STM officials say the Togan features fairly high-optical zooming capabilities and high-flight performance.
The Turkish military will operate the Togan alongside the Alpagu and the Kargu, another kamikaze drone.
Homeland security and industry response
Turkey’s military and procurement officials have increasingly relied on various drone systems, most notably to boost the country’s asymmetrical fight against Kurdish insurgents and hostile Islamic groups fighting in the Syrian civil war. A two-year cease-fire with the Kurdish insurgents ended in July 2015, and thousands have died since in a renewed cycle of violence.
