Turkey boosts efforts for unmanned aerial vehicle

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

An Anka unmanned plane being produced by TAI is seen during a test flight in this file photo.

Turkey’s Undersecretariat for Defense Industries has launched the development process for TİSU, the Turkish unmanned air vehicle project, which will support all efforts to produce such vehicles and act as a central clearinghouse for related experience and information. 

The timeline is part of a study known as the “Unmanned Air Vehicles Roadmap,” conducted by the military, industrial organizations and universities, under the coordination of the undersecretariat. The roadmap, with a 2030 research deadline, presents a broad plan for the production of vehicles capable of firing at targets and landing on ships. The study will become a major resource supporting planning and directing research and development work in the field, as well as optimizing costs for both companies and state institutions.

Domestic resources

The goal is to produce the vehicles entirely using domestic resources, according to information gathered by the Anatolia news agency. Turkey’s efforts to build unmanned planes go back 20 years. However, the process has speeded up recently, in parallel with a global trend to employ more unmanned aerial vehicles.

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) plans to reveal its Anka, the most mature project of this kind currently underway, as of 2014. 

According to the TİSU plan, a contract for a “Target Plane System,” which covers training shots, air defense training and performance checks on related gun systems used by both air and marine forces is set to be signed this year. The study also foresees a contract for ship-based vehicles to be signed next year.