ANKA-3, which has many advantages such as low radar visibility, high speed and high payload and by means of its "flying wing" structure, has landed on the runway, counting the days for its first flight.

ANKA 3, the third member of the family of unmanned armed aircraft that is designed and developed in facilities of TUSAŞ (Türk Havacılık Uzay Sanayii Anonim Şirketi) was shot by Anadolu Ajans.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Engineering Director Bülent Korkem told Anadolu Agency (AA) that ANKA-3 is a tailless configuration and it has different advantages.

Korkem informed about the advantages of ANKA-3 arising from the design:

"One of these, and the most important one, is the low radar visibility. Because the aircraft does not have horizontal and vertical tails, this feature decreases the visibility considerably. With some extra measures, it is possible to increase this even more and reduce the visibility. Apart from that, in this configuration, the drag is low. We can create more transport volume and capacity. Therefore, we wanted to use all of these advantages. It took a lot of time planning. About a year ago, we created the infrastructure by flying a smaller, tailless aircraft and started to develop such an aircraft on which we would use these advantages. Development of ANKA 3 started in February 2022. At this point, the aircraft has now started taxi tests. This process will continue until the first flight takes place in a short time. Later, the form of the work will end and a new process will begin where the mission systems are integrated and prepared for real use. At this time, the first flight, the first target. Flight date. Very soon, at the beginning of May, I hope we will fly it before the middle of May."

Capabilities in the Field of Operation

Answering questions regarding the operational use of ANKA-3, Bülent Korkem stated that the aircraft has a serious carrying capacity, can go up to 44 thousand feet and can operate at 40 thousand feet.

"The low radar visibility gives us a high payload capacity and the ability to operate at high speeds at long distances. Therefore, we have a heavy payload capacity. We can use this for air-to-ground, air-to-air attack purposes by supporting it with other electronic systems and payloads that we will mount on it. We can use ANKA-3 for joint operations with manned systems such as the National Combat Aircraft, HURJET, F-16. There is an opportunity to use both the payloads on it and their payloads together. Therefore, the usage area of ​​this aircraft is very wide. We can say that if we make the first flight in a short time, we think that by the end of the year or at the beginning of next year, there will be a situation of readiness for the first mission."

ANKA-3's Weapons

In response to the question about ANKA-3's offensive capability, Korkem explained that there will be a total of 7 weapon stations, one of which is under the fuselage center, two of which are internal and two under the wing. Korkem added, “Noting that weapon stations have different capacities” and;

"The capabilities of the internal station inside the fuselage will be huge. So we have a significant volume there, which this configuration brings. We are able to carry all the ammunition developed in Türkiye so far in this system. The internal weapon station can carry one each of the Mark 83 class weapons, or depending on the volume. We can carry much more smaller ammunition. The first large station under the wing can carry SOM-J, again Mark 83 class guns. Relatively small arms can be carried at non-wing stations as well. So in terms of carrying weapons we have very wide range with ANKA 3."

Super Lightning is Coming

Korkem also gave information about the new version of the high-speed target aircraft Şimşek, which is positioned under the wings of ANKA-3.

Expressing that the resulting platform is like "Şimşek's big brother", Korkem said that they named the new product "Super Şimşek".

Korkem stated that the Super Şimşek will primarily be a target aircraft, followed by versions with decoy target and offensive ammunition.

Noting that they will use different types of seeker heads in the versions with ammunition, Korkem said, "Therefore, Super Şimşek will be able to perform air-to-ground, air-to-air attack missions, to detect and suppress enemy systems on the ground, by attaching electronic warfare systems within its own capacity. In one of the latest versions, it will be able to reach as far as cruise missiles. We will also use this aircraft in a wide range. We expect a range of over 700 kilometers." used the phrases.

Levent Aslan.