The TAI Aksungur is an

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

(UAV) built by

Turkish Aerospace Industries Turkish Aerospace Inc. ( tr, Türk Havacılık ve Uzay Sanayi A.Ş., TUSAŞ) is the center of technology in design, development, manufacturing, integration of aerospace systems, modernization and after sales support in Turkey. Located in Ankara ...

(TAI) for the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...

. Using existing technology from the

TAI Anka 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 modul ...

series of drones, it is the manufacturer's largest drone with payload capacity for mission-specific equipment. It is intended to be used for long-term surveillance, signals intelligence, maritime patrol missions, or as an

unmanned combat aerial vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...

. TAI planned to integrate weapon packages and put the Aksungur into production in early 2020. The first unit was delivered to the

Turkish Naval Forces The Turkish Naval Forces ( tr, ), or Turkish Navy ( tr, ) is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was establis ...

on 20 October 2021.

Development

Aksungur,

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

for

gyrfalcon The gyrfalcon ( or ) (), the largest of the falcon species, is a bird of prey. The abbreviation gyr is also used. It breeds on Arctic coasts and tundra, and the islands of northern North America and the Eurosiberian region. It is mainly a reside ...

, is classified as a

medium-altitude long-endurance A medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle flies at an altitude window of 10,000 to 30,000 feet (3,000–9,000 m) for extended durations of time, typically 24 to 48 hours.https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/products/falco-xplorer This ...

(MALE)

(UAV). It is designed and manufactured by

(TAI) for tactical

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

and

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

missions of the

. The Aksungur has twin

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

engines with a

twin boom A twin-boom aircraft is characterised by two longitudinal booms (extended nacelle-like bodies). The booms may contain ancillary items such as fuel tanks and/or provide a supporting structure for other items. Typically, twin tailbooms support ...

configuration. Developing the UAV took 18 months. The airframe, wing and landing gear are new designs, while control systems are from the existing

family of drones. A new turbodiesel engine is also in development for the programme, with initial flight tests of the airframe using an existing engine. Two prototypes were manufactured for testing purposes. Its

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...

, displaying automatic

takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a t ...

and

landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or ...

capabilities, took place on 20 March 2019, and lasted four hours and twenty minutes. Reportedly, a second test flight of three hours was performed on 3 April the same year. It was introduced at the 2019

International Defence Industry Fair The International Defence Industry Fair or İDEF ( tr, İDEF Uluslararası Savunma Sanayi Fuarı) is a defence industry fair held in Turkey and organized by the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation since 1993. The TAF Foundation organizes the IDEF ...

(IDEF) in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey, on 30 April.

CNN Türk CNN Türk is a Turkish pay television news channel, launched on 11 October 1999 as the localised variant of American channel CNN. It broadcasts exclusively for Turkey and it is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Demirören Group. Its headquarte ...

reported ongoing flight tests in July 2019, with the manufacturer anticipating a total of 50 to 60 tests by the end of the year. The UAV is planned to go into series production by the first quarter of 2020.

Design

The aircraft is long and high when resting on its

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

. The high-mounted wings have a slight

dihedral angle A dihedral angle is the angle between two intersecting planes or half-planes. In chemistry, it is the clockwise angle between half-planes through two sets of three atoms, having two atoms in common. In solid geometry, it is defined as the uni ...

and a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

of . The wings end with small

winglet Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...

s. The centralized fuselage is under the wings and houses avionics, camera and sensors systems, with a chin-mounted camera blister. Fuel is stored in the fuselage and wings. A turbocharged engine is mounted under each wing, with the engine nacelles each extending backward into a tail boom. These tail booms terminate in vertical stabilizers, with a horizontal

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

joining them. The tricycle landing gear retracts into the engine nacelles and the nose of the aircraft while in flight. The aircraft is powered by two forward-mounted PD-170 dual-turbocharged diesel engines developed by

Tusaş Engine Industries Tusaş Engine Industries (TEI; tr, TUSAŞ Motor Sanayii A.Ş.) is an aerospace engine manufacturer and a design center for the production of engines and engine parts for commercial and military aircraft. It is based in Eskişehir, Turkey. TEI wa ...

(TEI), equipped with three-bladed propellers in a tractor (puller) configuration. According to the manufacturer, these enable the Aksungur to cruise at a maximum speed of and carry a maximum payload of to an altitude of , or ascend to with a payload. The aircraft's designed maximum payload is 375% greater than that of its predecessor; its

maximum takeoff weight The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...

is . It is rated to stay aloft 12 hours as an

attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pre ...

maritime patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol roles ...

and 24 hours during

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

missions. Remote control of the UAV is performed by

DO-178B DO-178B, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification is a guideline dealing with the safety of safety-critical software used in certain airborne systems. It was jointly developed by the safety-critical working group RT ...

compatible software on

DO-254 RTCA DO-254 / EUROCAE ED-80, Design Assurance Guidance for Airborne Electronic Hardware is a document providing guidance for the development of airborne electronic hardware, published by RTCA, Incorporated and EUROCAE. The DO-254/ED-80 standard w ...

compatible ground control station and hardware using double backed-up encrypted digital

data link A data link is the means of connecting one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving digital information (data communication). It can also refer to a set of electronics assemblies, consisting of a transmitter and a recei ...

. Optional beyond-visual-range operation flexibility is available via

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...

. TAI expects to integrate weapon systems typical of

F-4 The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bo ...

and

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...

fighter aircraft onto Aksungur in the last quarter of 2019. Three

hardpoint A hardpoint is an attachment location on a structural frame designed to transfer force and carry an external or internal load. The term is usually used to refer to the mounting points (more formally known as a weapon station or station) on the ...

s are situated under each wing for attaching external payloads, such as munitions or sonar buoys. These hardpoints are rated for loads of . Proposed armaments include TEBER-81 (

laser-guided bomb A laser-guided bomb (LGB) is a guided bomb that uses semi-active laser guidance to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than an unguided bomb. First developed by the United States during the Vietnam War, laser-guided bombs quickly p ...

Mk-81), TEBER-82 (laser-guided bomb Mk-82), LUMTAS, MAM-L,

Roketsan Cirit Cirit is a laser-guided 70 mm missile system under production by Turkish arms industry manufacturer ROKETSAN. It is one of the projects launched by Turkey to equip the Turkish Army's T-129 Atak, AH-1P Cobra and AH-1W Super Cobra attack hel ...

, MAM-C, HGK-3 (

precision-guided munition A precision-guided munition (PGM, smart weapon, smart munition, smart bomb) is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, to minimize collateral damage and increase lethality against intended targets. During the First Gul ...

), KGK (82) (winged guided kit), and miniature bomb.

Operational history

On 2 September 2020, TAI Aksungur flew the fifty-ninth test flight by staying in the air for 49 hours. On 17 September 2020, TAI Aksungur flew at an altitude of 20,000 feet for 20 hours carrying 12 MAM-L smart munitions. TAI Aksungur carried an MK-82 bomb with a Teber guidance kit weighing 250kg and hit a target at a 30km distance. Turkey is using Aksungur for dropping

Sonobuoy A sonobuoy (a portmanteau of sonar and buoy) is a relatively small buoy – typically diameter and long – expendable sonar system that is dropped/ejected from aircraft or ships conducting anti-submarine warfare or underwater acoustic resea ...

in the sea, in order to find the Greek submarines.

Operators

– 3 operational. *

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force ( tr, ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish Air Force can trace its origins back to June 1911 when it was founded by the Ottoman Empire, however, the air force as it is known t ...

- 3 estimated operational.

Future operators

Algerian Air Force The Algerian Air Force (AAF) ( ar, القُوَّاتُ الجَوِّيَّةُ الجَزَائِرِيَّةُ, links=, lit=, translit=al-Quwwāt al-Ǧawwiyyah al-Ǧazāʾiriyyah, french: Forces aériennes algériennes, links=, lit=, translit ...

– 6 drones were ordered in October 2022.

Specifications

References

External links

"ANKA-AKSUNGUR performed its maiden flight on 20 March 2019" on YouTube
{{TAI aircraft Aksungur Twin-boom aircraft High-wing aircraft Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles Military robots Unmanned military aircraft of Turkey Aircraft first flown in 2019