Like China, Turkey has whole-heartedly embraced many local initiatives concerning the design, development, and production of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to cover various roles in military, law enforcement, border / state security, and national intelligence. This had led to a bevy of local industry players, such as Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), to fast-track programs like the "Anka" and deliver capable UAV systems to the Turkish armed forces and other awaiting services/departments. The Anka was introduced in 2013 and is currently a part of both the Turkish Air Force and the General Directorate of Security.
From the framework of the Anka has arisen a twin-engine, twin-boom evolution intended for broader support of Turkish in-service munitions as well as tactical over-battlefield roles. This is the "Aksungur" which is in prototype testing stages as of this writing (2019). A second prototype was unveiled at the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) of Istanbul to drum up interest in the new product.
The design sports a straight-winged planform with slight tapering of the trailing edges and small winglets positioned at the tips. The wings are high-mounted along the centralized fuselage section which holds the avionics fit, various camera and sensor systems, and fuel stores. The nose has a chin-mounted camera "blister" with full 360-degree rotation and the typical bulbous housing. The twin booms straddle either side of the fuselage and are held outboard of the wing roots, each boom given an engine nacelle driving three-bladed propeller units in puller configuration. The booms taper towards the rear and terminate in vertical tail fins. The fins are joined at their base by a shared horizontal stabilizer. The aircraft uses a tricycle undercarriage for ground-running with all three legs being single-wheeled. The nose leg retracts under the nose and the main legs retract under and aft of each engine nacelle.
At this point, the aircraft is slated to have a mission endurance window of about 24 hours and fly to altitudes of 40,000 feet based on press releases. Early forms will be powered by the German Thielert "Centurion" 4-cylinder model of 170 horsepower output though plans are in the works to ultimately have Turkish local industry takeover and produce a similar 170 horsepower of turbodiesel design. From this is hoped to evolve an engine outputting upwards of 220 horsepower before project's end.
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April 2019 - Two prototypes of the Aksungur have been proposed with the second debuted at the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) in Istanbul.
September 2020 - The Aksungur UAV has begun its weapons trials phase.
October 2021 - The initial Aksungur has been delivered to the Turkish Navy.
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
✓Ground Attack (Bombing, Strafing)
Ability to conduct aerial bombing of ground targets by way of (but not limited to) guns, bombs, missiles, rockets, and the like.
✓Close-Air Support (CAS)
Developed to operate in close proximity to active ground elements by way of a broad array of air-to-ground ordnance and munitions options.
✓Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR), Scout
Surveil ground targets / target areas to assess environmental threat levels, enemy strength, or enemy movement.
✓Unmanned Capability
Aircraft inherently designed (or later developed) with an unmanned capability to cover a variety of over-battlefield roles.
Empty Wgt
3,968 lb (1,800 kg)
MTOW
7,275 lb (3,300 kg)
Wgt Diff
+3,307 lb (+1,500 kg)
(Showcased structural values pertain to the base TAI Aksungur production variant)
Installed:
2 x Thielert "Centurion" 4-cylinder engines of 170 horsepower (testing) OR 2 x TEI PD170 turbodiesel engines developing between 170-220 horsepower; driving 2 x Three-bladed propeller units at the boom heads.
(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base TAI Aksungur production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)
Payload of up to 1,650lb (750 kg). Supported weaponry to run the gamut of current-generation precision-guided drop bombs, conventional drop bombs, and Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) as well as general air-to-surface missiles (perhaps even including anti-ship missiles in the proposed Maritime Patrol variant).
Supported Types
(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)
Hardpoint Mountings: 2
Aksungur - Base Project Name.
Aksungur SIGINT - SIGnals INTelligence platform being proposed.
Aksungur MP - Maritime Patrol model being proposed.
Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.
Images Gallery
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Image from Turkish Aerospace Industries press release.
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