TAI Anka
Type of aircraft / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The TAI Anka is a family of unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries primarily for the Turkish Air Force. Envisioned in the early 2000s for aerial surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Anka has evolved into a modular platform with synthetic-aperture radar, precise weapons and satellite communication.
Anka | |
---|---|
Anka-S | |
Role | Unmanned aerial vehicle Unmanned combat aerial vehicle |
National origin | Turkey |
Manufacturer | Turkish Aerospace Industries |
First flight | 30 December 2010 |
Introduction | 16 July 2010[1] |
Status | In service[2] |
Primary users | Turkish Air Force General Directorate of Security (Turkey) |
Produced | 2010 - present |
Number built | 102[3] |
Developed into | TAI Aksungur |
The basic version, Anka-A, was classified as a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance missions. Introduced in 2010, Anka granted its first contract in 2013 from Turkish Air Force. The Force requested further studies in advanced uninterrupted intelligence, reconnaissance and communication technologies. The aircraft was set to a long development phase to introduce national mission computer, national flight control system, synthetic aperture radar, indigenous engine and friend or foe identification system. Anka-B made its first flight in 2014 and completed factory tests in 2015. In 2017, Turkish Aerospace Industries introduced Anka-S and the aircraft entered service with the Turkish Air Force.
Turkish Aerospace Industries offers the aircraft in two versions, Anka-B and Anka-S. Anka-I was developed specifically for Turkey's National Intelligence Organization for signal intelligence. Anka has accumulated more than 90,000 flight hours as of March 2021.[4]
The drone is named after Phoenix, a mythological creature called Zümrüd-ü Anka in Turkish.