Within 2016 Turkish Police Going To Acquire Six Drones

The Turkish police have ordered six domestically-developed drones and four ground control stations set to be delivered beginning in 2016, sources from the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries have stated.

The Turkish police submitted orders for two systems, which included six unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and four ground control systems, to be developed domestically through a joint venture of Turkish companies Baykar and Kale Kalıp. 

The undersecretariat initiated talks to acquire locally-made drones in August 2015 in order to meet the “urgent necessities” of the police department. 

According to reports, the first agreement for the Bayraktar TB2 Tactical UAVs was signed with the Kale-Baykar joint venture on Oct. 15. 

The Bayraktar TB2 successfully completed acceptance tests conducted at a military airport of the 4th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in Turkey’s northwestern Keşan district in November 2014, qualifying to join the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces. 

The UAVs will be able to surveil, perform reconnaissance flights during both daylight and at night and perform fixed or moving target acquisition. The deliveries of “completely national and unique” UAVs are set to start in October 2016. 

Bayraktars are able to perform semi-automatic control and automatic taxi, take-off, cruise, landing and parking. They can fly for 30 hours with a 22,000-foot cruising height and can carry a payload of up to 55 kg. 

Meanwhile, Turkish police will also acquire 16 explosive ordnance disposal robots from Turkish defense producer Aselsan, alongside 16 mid-size bomb disposal robots.

Anka May Lose Its Engine

Chinese Avic’s acquisition of German Thielert, leaves the first Turkishmade drone, the Anka, without an engine. Turkish officials are worried that buying of Thielert, engines supplier of Anka, may delay the project.

It looked entirely like any other business takeover between the Chinese and Germans with no relevance to Turkey. But the news that a Chinese group had acquired the troubled German maker of aircraft engines means Turkey must now find a new engine supplier for its first indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Anka.

Turkish officials and the Anka team are now worried that Chinese group Avic International’s acquisition of Thielert, a bankrupt German maker of diesel engines for aircraft may further delay the Anka which would otherwise have been powered by Thielert’s Centurion engine.

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) which develops the Anka had ordered the Centurion for a batch of 10 aircraft. Now TAI must look elsewhere to find a new engine to power the Anka.

The ANKA is a medium-altitude long-endurance MALE-category drone. Such UAVs usually operate for 24 hours at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

ANKA, meaning Phoenix in English, is the first MALE-type UAV to be produced by TAI. One of the prototypes crashed during a test flight in September but several other flight tests have been carried out successfully.

ANKA+, another version of the ANKA, calls for an armed vehicle, using a rocket attached to its body and sensors.

An engine maybe developed to replace

“An immediate replacement could be a difficult task,” a TAI official said. “We may, though, ask TEI (TAI’s sister company that manufactures engine parts) to develop an engine for the Anka.” Both TAI and TEI (Turkish Engine Industries) are owned by a military support fund.

The engine problem occurred at a time when defense procurement authorities are preparing to sign a contract for the acquisition of 10 ANKAs. Separately, the Turkish police force is also preparing to place an order for the Anka.

Before the engine snag, another problem had delayed the Anka program. A locally-developed electro optical sensor, by military electronics firm Aselsan, did not fit Anka’s specifications and TAI was mulling to opt for a foreign pod.

Avic said in August that it was merging Thielert into its Continental Motors division and was giving up military business. Deliveries had stopped, the state-run Chinese company announced.

Thielert was supplying engines for aircraft including a U.S. Army version of the General Atomics Predator. General Atomics has acquired the engine data package and intends to continue production and support.

Satellite-controled version of ANKA

The ANKA had successfully passed acceptance tests late in January. The final, decisive tests on Jan. 20-21 involved a full endurance, 18-hour flight, successful auto landing, data link performance at a distance of 200 km (approx. 120 miles) under winds up to 45 knots, and night take-offs and landings. The ANKA has so far did more than 150 flight hours. There is a possibility that TAI could develop a satellite-controlled version of the ANKA, company officials say.

A defense industry expert said that finding a new engine supplier may not resolve the entire problem. “Any new engine will have to be fitted into the Anka which was designed for the Thielert engine. This will require new (engine) integration work. New tests should also be done,” he said.

HDN