TIHA
Encyclopedia
The TAI Anka is a family of unmanned aerial vehicle
s (UAV) developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries
for use by the Turkish Air Force
. The Anka-A (TIHA-A) is a surveillance version, while Anka-B (TIHA-B) is a projected unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). Anka-A is set to be commissioned by the Turkish Air Force
in 2012. The name of the UAV Anka is inspired from a mythical flying creature Anka.
The TIHA system, which is designed for night and day missions including adverse weather conditions, performs real time image intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, moving/stationery target detection, recognition, identification and tracking missions.
While the TIHA system has an open architecture to support other potential payloads and missions, within the context of the existing project the air vehicle is configured to carry the following payloads onboard:
The whole composite airframe is composed of a monoblock fuselage, detachable wing and V-Tail, retractable landing gear, redundant control surfaces, avionics and payload bays and service doors. The sandwich skin structure is reinforced by composite or metallic frames, ribs and supports. Propelled by a pusher type heavy fuel engine, the aircraft is furnished with fuselage fuel tanks and fuel system, ice protection system, environmental control system, lighting system, redundant electrical system with battery backup and harness system.
The platform is also equipped with a digital flight control system, electro-mechanical actuators, and flight control sensor systems such as GPS, pitot-static, air data computer, navigation sensor, transducers, temperature, pressure, displacement sensors, etc. Various tasks are distributed along flight management computers and auxiliary control boxes. Identification and communication units and interface computers are employed in order to establish real time wide band communication and provide test and diagnostics functions. An air traffic radio is also integrated in the communication system for the integration of the aircraft into the civilian airspace. All flight critical equipment are dual or triple redundant and emergency modes of operational scenarios are taken into consideration for fail safe design.
All airborne and ground based flight control software is developed by TAI while payload hardware and software items are aimed to be developed by national sub-contractors, such as Aselsan and Milsoft.
TIHA operations are supported by highly sophisticated ground control system with complete redundancy, developed by a domestic defence company Savronik. Whole mission segments of the air vehicle can be managed, monitored and controlled by a GCS. A pre-programmed mission plan can be loaded before the flight begins or can be altered during the flight. All the imagery stream of the payloads can be displayed and recorded in real time and all the payloads can be controlled from the GCS. ATOLS allows the air vehicle to perform its operation without operator intervention, including the most critical phases which are landing and take-off.
In TIES, valuable intelligence information can be obtained by the analysis of bulky imagery data. TIES operators can initiate intelligence missions prior to or during flight. Refined information flows to the upper command layer in order to assist the headquarters to monitor a network of TIHA systems and benefit from the gathered intelligence information. Another interface of the TIHA system is the RVT, with which other friendly units who are close to the target area can utilize the real time imagery that TIHA air vehicle broadcasts.
(UAV) system for the reconnaissance requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces became effective on 24 December 2004. Within the framework of the program, a total of three prototypes and ground systems will be designed, developed, manufactured and tested by mid 2011 as part of the prototype development phase. Subsequently in 2012, the serial production phase of Anka-A will be launched and additional 10 systems (meaning 30 air vehicles) will be built for the Turkish Air Force. To attain an indigenous power unit for the Anka, Tusas Engine Industries (TEI) develops a turboprop engine expected to start trials in 2011.
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
s (UAV) developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries
Turkish Aerospace Industries
Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. is the center of technology in design, development, manufacturing, integration of aerospace systems, modernization and after sales support in Turkey....
for use by the Turkish Air Force
Turkish Air Force
The Turkish Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. It ranks 3rd in NATO in terms of fleet size behind the USAF and Royal Air Force with a current inventory of 798 aircraft .-Initial stages:...
. The Anka-A (TIHA-A) is a surveillance version, while Anka-B (TIHA-B) is a projected unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). Anka-A is set to be commissioned by the Turkish Air Force
Turkish Air Force
The Turkish Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. It ranks 3rd in NATO in terms of fleet size behind the USAF and Royal Air Force with a current inventory of 798 aircraft .-Initial stages:...
in 2012. The name of the UAV Anka is inspired from a mythical flying creature Anka.
Design
A TIHA system consists of three air vehicles (A/V), Ground Control Station (GCS), Ground Data Terminal (GDT), Automatic Take-off and Landing System (ATOLS), Transportable Image Exploitation System (TIES), Remote Video Terminal (RVT) and various Ground Support Equipment (GSE).The TIHA system, which is designed for night and day missions including adverse weather conditions, performs real time image intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, moving/stationery target detection, recognition, identification and tracking missions.
While the TIHA system has an open architecture to support other potential payloads and missions, within the context of the existing project the air vehicle is configured to carry the following payloads onboard:
- Electro-optic Color Day Camera (EO Day TV)
- Electro-optic/Forward Looking Infrared/Laser Range Finder/Laser Designator and Spotter Camera (EO/FLIR/LRF/LDS)
- Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI)
- Inverse SAR (ISAR)
The whole composite airframe is composed of a monoblock fuselage, detachable wing and V-Tail, retractable landing gear, redundant control surfaces, avionics and payload bays and service doors. The sandwich skin structure is reinforced by composite or metallic frames, ribs and supports. Propelled by a pusher type heavy fuel engine, the aircraft is furnished with fuselage fuel tanks and fuel system, ice protection system, environmental control system, lighting system, redundant electrical system with battery backup and harness system.
The platform is also equipped with a digital flight control system, electro-mechanical actuators, and flight control sensor systems such as GPS, pitot-static, air data computer, navigation sensor, transducers, temperature, pressure, displacement sensors, etc. Various tasks are distributed along flight management computers and auxiliary control boxes. Identification and communication units and interface computers are employed in order to establish real time wide band communication and provide test and diagnostics functions. An air traffic radio is also integrated in the communication system for the integration of the aircraft into the civilian airspace. All flight critical equipment are dual or triple redundant and emergency modes of operational scenarios are taken into consideration for fail safe design.
All airborne and ground based flight control software is developed by TAI while payload hardware and software items are aimed to be developed by national sub-contractors, such as Aselsan and Milsoft.
TIHA operations are supported by highly sophisticated ground control system with complete redundancy, developed by a domestic defence company Savronik. Whole mission segments of the air vehicle can be managed, monitored and controlled by a GCS. A pre-programmed mission plan can be loaded before the flight begins or can be altered during the flight. All the imagery stream of the payloads can be displayed and recorded in real time and all the payloads can be controlled from the GCS. ATOLS allows the air vehicle to perform its operation without operator intervention, including the most critical phases which are landing and take-off.
In TIES, valuable intelligence information can be obtained by the analysis of bulky imagery data. TIES operators can initiate intelligence missions prior to or during flight. Refined information flows to the upper command layer in order to assist the headquarters to monitor a network of TIHA systems and benefit from the gathered intelligence information. Another interface of the TIHA system is the RVT, with which other friendly units who are close to the target area can utilize the real time imagery that TIHA air vehicle broadcasts.
Development
The contract regarding the development of an indigenous Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial VehicleUnmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
(UAV) system for the reconnaissance requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces became effective on 24 December 2004. Within the framework of the program, a total of three prototypes and ground systems will be designed, developed, manufactured and tested by mid 2011 as part of the prototype development phase. Subsequently in 2012, the serial production phase of Anka-A will be launched and additional 10 systems (meaning 30 air vehicles) will be built for the Turkish Air Force. To attain an indigenous power unit for the Anka, Tusas Engine Industries (TEI) develops a turboprop engine expected to start trials in 2011.
- On 30 December 2010, the first TAI Anka unmanned aerial vehicle completed its debut flight, with 14 minutes of cruising, at 15:45 local time. Defence Minister Vecdi Gönül confirmed the flight.
- On 5 May 2011, TAI released the test flight video of Anka. Anka-A flew a test and calibration mission of 2h 30m.
- Turkish Aerospace Industries announced on the 25th of October 2011 that the ANKA had successfully completed its subsequent flight and landing tests and that it will now be in the Turkish Air Force inventory in 2012 that is much earlier than expected. Footage released by TAI also shows the ANKA landing successfully putting all speculation abouts its crash landings to rest.
Variants
Future variants of UAV Anka will have larger payload capacity extending its current capabilities under the following features:- SATCOMSATCOMSATCOM or Satcom may refer to:* Short for Satellite Communications and used frequently in the context of VSAT * Communications satellites or comsats...
- SIGINTSIGINTSignals intelligence is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether between people , whether involving electronic signals not directly used in communication , or combinations of the two...
- Armament