Turkey displays advanced stealth flying-wing drone
On March 18, 2023, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) demonstrated the Anka-3 (ANKA-3) unmanned aerial vehicle The first photo of the man-machine. Temel Kotil said: In Turkish Century, promises were kept. MMU and HURJET taxi test, ATAK2 engine is about to start, and ANKA3 makes its first flight.
Show the martyrs of Canakkale what thousands of colleagues and business partners have created together. TAI really stole the show, displaying three aircraft at once, and only the Anka-3 was the most mysterious here, even with few parameters.
Professor Ismail Demir, Chairman of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency, revealed for the first time in a statement to SavunmaSanayiST during the International Defense and Security Exhibition 2022 in Jakarta, Indonesia, in November 2022 The development of unmanned combat aircraft indicates that it is in production.
On December 13, 2022, Vice President Fouad Oktay announced the Anka-3 combat drone system developed by TAI at the 2023 budget meeting: "New unmanned jet fighter jets from TAI, here is the new good news: a new generation of projects that will take the UAV side to the next level: Anka-3M?US; tailless with its jet engines and speed, high payload capacity and stealth on radar. structure, it will open a new page in the field of drones.”
On December 24, 2022, Turkish newspaper YeniSafak published leaked photos of TAI’s Anka-3.
Anka-3 is called MIUS (MuharipInsansizUcakSistemi-Unmanned Combat Aircraft System). Based on the information currently released, TAI launched the Anka-3 project in February 2022. The project is progressing rapidly, and the structural assembly and equipment installation of the first prototype will be completed in January 2023. Assembly and ground testing will be completed in February-March 2023. Anka-3 will undergo engine testing in April 2023 and is scheduled to conduct its first test flight in the same month. Therefore, it makes sense to display the photos on March 18, 2023.
The Anka-3 is a flying-wing unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). Roughly the size of a light fighter, the aircraft can perform target reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence gathering, conduct air-to-ground strikes using a variety of munitions, hunt enemy helicopters, propeller-driven aircraft and drones with air-to-air missiles, and can Conduct electronic warfare while suppressing enemy radar and air defense systems, and even have the opportunity to perform missions with Turkey's manned TF-X stealth fighter. The Turks also mentioned the use of artificial intelligence.
The Anka-3 adopts a typical flying wing layout, and the sweep angle should be about 50 degrees. The sweep angle of the B-2 bomber is 33 degrees, indicating that the Anka-3 is sharper.
There are two pitot tubes installed on both sides of the nose of the aircraft. It adopts a piggyback air inlet. The inlet opening is designed with saw teeth. There are two air inlets on both sides of the nose, which may be used for The equipment is cooled. There is an opening on the top of the back of the machine that is suspected to be an auxiliary air inlet. A data link antenna and a suspected satellite conformal antenna are also installed on it. There is a round engine nozzle at the tail.
The aircraft uses jet power, with the engine nozzle exposed. The maximum speed is about Mach 0.7 (800 kilometers/hour, altitude 9,000 meters), the cruising speed is Mach 0.4, the take-off weight is 6.5 tons, and the ceiling is 1.2 10,000 meters, 10 hours of idle time, and a payload of 1.2 tons. Judging from this nozzle design, it is speculated that the aircraft is likely to use the same AI-25TLT as the Red Apple UAV.
But the AI-25TL thrust is 1.72 tons/1687 kN. This thrust is still a bit small for the take-off weight of 6.5 tons. It may also use the AI-322F turbofan engine developed by Ukraine's "Progressive" aviation industry consortium, with a maximum thrust of 2,500 kilograms without afterburner. However, the exposed tail nozzle will greatly increase the RCS value of the aircraft, and it is speculated that it will be redesigned.
According to the previously disclosed structural diagram, the aircraft is designed with two bomb bays and adopts a side-opening design, but the bomb bay door does not have a sawtooth structure. The aircraft has 4 mounting points on both sides of the wing and has a high payload capacity. The structural diagram shows that laser-guided bombs with TEBER-82 and TEBER-81 guidance kits are mounted, respectively using MK- 81 and MK-82 bomb modifications are products of Roketson Company.
TEBER-81 is 2.1 meters long and weighs about 155 kilograms. TEBER-81 is 2.6 meters long and weighs about 270 kilograms. It has an attack range of 2-28 kilometers and uses inertial navigation + GPS guidance + semi-active laser guidance. The design improves the bomb's ability to hit static and moving targets with high accuracy.
TEBER can also be detonated through its proximity fuse, with an action range of 2-15 meters. The bomb's strike accuracy is less than 3 meters. This also shows that the external load capacity of its pylon is 850 kilograms for 4 bombs. This load weight is very considerable, and it is also in line with the payload mentioned by the Turks when they released the news. The payload of the Gyrfalcon UAV exceeds the effectiveness of the Gyrfalcon UAV. The payload is only 750kg. In order to cooperate with laser irradiation, a photoelectric window should be designed under the machine head.
Since the Turks claim that the Anka-3 is also capable of air combat, it can at least carry the Bozdogan short-range air-to-air missile. As for the MAM-L (thermobaric warhead)/MAM- C (high explosive warhead)/MAM-T (extended range), bozok small missiles, Cirit 70mm guided rockets and MK-82 modified LGK/HGK/KGK aerial bombs (laser/GPS/INS guidance), UMTAS anti- Tank missiles and gliding bombs are expected to be mounted on the aircraft after they enter service.
Judging from the current configuration of the Anka-3, although the aircraft has considered some stealth designs, its tail is exposed. The nozzles, a large number of pylons, aircraft doors and seams do not meet the needs of stealth attacks. At best, they have a certain effect of reducing RCS, and it will take a long time to develop to make up for the shortcomings.
The Turks may also. Understand this, first solve the flight control problem and pursue the aircraft to fly. As for the appearance modification, it is still more pragmatic. In the future, the aircraft may compete with the Red Apple unmanned fighter jets, and may also develop a belt. There are cheap versions of the pylon and high-end reconnaissance and attack versions with enhanced stealth to suit different missions.