Baykar Technologies’ TB2 unmanned air vehicle (UAV) has demonstrated the ability to recover from a spin, while Turkish Aerospace (TAI) has increased the weapons capability of the Aksungur system.
During a recent test flight, a Bayraktar TB2 was deliberately put into a spin mid-flight, and was able to use algorithms to recover autonomously, says Baykar.
The company claims that this is a first for a weaponised UAV.
“This manoeuvre – which no armed UAV has successfully performed until now – enables the platform to continue its mission even in the event of a loss of control, significantly enhancing its operational reliability,” says the company.
The company is working on a new version of the TB2 dubbed TB2T-AI, which will feature what the company calls “advanced artificial intelligence systems”.
On 1 March, a TB2 launched a Kemankes 1, a 30kg (66lb) cruise missile designed for deployment from UAVs. The range of the system is given as 107nm (200km).
In other recent work, a TB3 conducted a firing test with the Roketsan UAV-122 supersonic missile. The UAV launched the missile from “below line-of-sight altitude”. The weapon successfully hit a 6x6m floating target at sea.
During the TB3’s first firing of the weapon on 25 March it hit a target over 27nm away.
Separately, TAI has touted progress with its Aksungur medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV.
In mid-March an Aksungur successfully hit targets from 30,000ft with Aselsan’s LGK-81 and LGK-82 laser-guided bombs.
In other work by TAI, an Anka III UAV successfully deployed another UAV, the Super Simsek High Subsonic UAV system, from under its wing.
The Super Simsek then conducted a 50min autonomous flight.
“Designed to operate as an effective weapon system against both air and ground targets, the Super Simsek also offers the flexibility to carry various types of payloads for electronic support and attack missions on a single platform,” says TAI.
