Turkish Naval Forces received a large TAI Aksungur UAV

Turkish Naval Forces received another Turkish-made TAI Aksungur UCAV.

This was announced by Ismail Demir, head of the Turkish Defence Industries Directorate.

The Aksungur UAV produced by the Turkish company Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) was recently handed over to the Turkish Navy Command.

Last October, the country’s naval forces received the first batch of such Turkish-made unmanned combat aerial vehicles.

Aksungur is designed for reconnaissance, observation and destruction of enemy targets, including those outside the line of sight. The drone was developed in a short time — in 18 months, on the platform of the Anka unmanned aerial vehicle.

It is known that the maximum flight duration of a drone is at least 50 hours.

Active use of the unmanned combat aerial vehicle began in the second quarter of 2021.

In the spring of 2019, the Turkish company TAI began flight tests of a promising medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle with a long flight duration under the YFYK (Yüksek Faydalı Yük Kapasteli) program. The first flight of the drone took place on March 20.

The drone can transport a payload weighing up to 750 kg (including guided weapons). The working ceiling of Aksungur is 6100-7600 m, and in the future — up to 12,200 m. The drone is equipped with a satellite control system.

For strike missions, the UAV can carry guided weapons on six underwing suspension nodes, including guided bombs TEBER-81 (MK-81 with laser guidance) and TEBER-82 (MK-82 with laser guidance), HGK-3, KGK, guided 70 mm Cirit missile, and laser-guided munitions MAM-L and MAM-C, long-range anti-tank guided missiles L-UMTAS.

In April 2021, Aksungur successfully hit a land-based target at a distance of 30 kilometers for the first time using the 340 kilogram KGK-SİHA-82 (Mk82 bomb).

As previously reported, Kazakhstan will jointly produce Anka multirole unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with the Turkish company Turkish Aerospace. On May 11, 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Kazakh and Turkish parties.