Turkish private venture’s drone success obscures ‘Anka story’

The successful production of an indigenous tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by a partnership of two privately owned Turkish companies has unwittingly highlighted major delays in a government-run program for the development of a more advanced UAV, the Anka.  

“We have reached [a technological level] that we can produce unmanned aircraft,” then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proudly said in a speech in Parliament April 29. The country’s first drone Erdoğan was referring to was none other than the Anka, one of his pet projects in Turkey’s ambitious efforts for indigenous systems development.  

Turkish engineers have been working on the Anka since the beginning of the 2000s, with no convincing delivery date yet. TAI officials have said they are working hard to achieve deliveries between 2016 and 2018.

Despite crash landings during earlier flight tests, the Anka has in the last year gone through a couple of successful tests. The Anka is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drone that can usually operate for 24 hours at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Anka, meaning Phoenix, is the first MALE-type UAV to be produced by Tusaş Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).  

In 2013, more than a decade after the work for the Anka took off, the Turkish government signed up with TAI for an order of 10 Ankas and ground stations.  

Earlier this year, Turkey’s military and defense officials moved on a plan to add satcom capabilities to the Anka. At the same time, they brought together a task force that would design and develop an indigenous engine for the Anka. Yet no one in Ankara knows which engine manufacturer will power the Anka or how soon.   

Meanwhile, a joint venture between Turkish companies...