Anka's away - Turkey's UAV makes first flight

The Turkish manufacturer TAI said the UAV first flew on December 30.

TAI has had some 180 engineers working since on the project since 2005. The UAV was rolled out in Ankara in July last year.

Anka translates as “Phoenix” in English and flew for 14 minutes from the Sivrihisar air base.                   

Powered by a 155-horsepower diesel engine, the UAV has a wingspan of 17.3 meters and a composite body eight meters long. 

TAI officials said that Anka will eventually fly at altitudes of up to 23,000 feet with an endurance of 23 hours. 

The country has made smaller UAVs in the past but this is the first in the MALE category to be designed.  It has cost more than $100m to develop. It is understood that the Turks are also working on an armed version called Anka-B

Turkish procurement officials aim at full self-sufficiency over the next several years after having bought Israeli-made Heron MALE drones last year. Defence minister Vecdi Gonul has said he hopes the moves by TAI and other growing UAS developers in the country will lead to an end of importing the craft.

In the meantime however, Turkey is hoping to buy armed MQ-9 Reaper drones from the United States, but has not yet received US approval for the sale.