Events in Ukraine threaten to disrupt the mass production of Turkish unmanned vehicles
The large investments made by Turkey in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) programs threaten not to pay off if ways to replace critically important foreign components are not found in the near future, as well as ways to disavow the low effectiveness of the use of Turkish drones against Russian troops and Donbass militias.
A couple of years ago, the government in Ankara gave the green light to an investment project for the construction of a huge aircraft factory in the Esenyurt district of Istanbul for the serial production of Bayraktar TB2 type UAVs (hereinafter referred to as Bayraktar) and Akıncı ("Akıncı", in the English manner – "Akinci"). 600 million Turkish liras were allocated for its implementation through the Ministry of Industry and Technology, at that time it was 104 million dollars.
According to the business plan, the payback period is eight years. A necessary condition is large foreign orders, without them it is impossible to cover the cost of expensive machine tools and other production equipment purchased in the West.
UAVs designed by the private Turkish company Baykar ("Baykar") were selected as the main products of the plant. Last year, it outpaced all other defense and aircraft manufacturing enterprises in the country in sales with a result of $ 664 million, with 80% of this amount coming from export transactions.
Bayraktar has been present on the market since 2015, has managed to fight in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine. Serial products are in service with Azerbaijan, Qatar, Poland and Ukraine, and a total of 22 countries have sent applications for their purchase.
Preliminary agreements with Ukraine, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have been signed at Akinci. This is a promising development that is at the stage of joint state tests. The local press writes about pre-orders for the supply of 36 Akıncı and 46 VTV2 plus the required number of ground communication and control stations, at the rate of one station for three UAVs.
To date, three experimental prototypes of Akıncı and six machines of the installation batch have been assembled for initial operation as part of the Turkish Armed Forces. The main customer received the first sample, which has not yet passed the full range of tests, almost a year ago. Together with several other similar UAVs, he was involved in combat missions in the spring of this year during a counter-terrorist operation against Kurdish formations in northern Iraq.
The products of the company "Baykar" showed their best side when they acted against a weak opponent – gangs of radical Islamists and Kurdish self-defense units. However, whenever the Bayraktars went into battle with the regular army, they suffered serious losses from air defense fire. This was the case in Libya, Syria and in recent months in Ukraine.
Naturally, interest from foreign customers is falling, and some even go to alternative suppliers. Tajikistan became the first country in the world to decide on a contract with Tehran for the licensed production of Iranian-designed UAVs. The relevant document was signed during the visit of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, Brigadier General Mohamed Bagheri (Mohammad Hossein Bagheri). Tajikistan chose the Ababil-2 light class vehicle, capable of covering a distance of 200 km in an hour and a half of flight time and hitting the target with aerial bombs.
Structurally, the Ababil-2 is simpler than Turkish UAVs and inferior to them in characteristics, but it has proven to be more reliable and less expensive when buying and operating. And most importantly, Iran got into the taste and began to actively offer its products to neighboring countries, including those whom Turkey expects to get as customers.
Earlier, the Persians transferred a number of UAVs of various types to the Lebanese, Palestinians, Yemenis and Syrians, with their help they tested the equipment in real combat conditions.
An even more serious competitor is China, which supplied Arab countries, as well as Pakistan, with several types of UAVs, including the Wing Loon heavy strike family, which were sometimes very effectively used on the battlefield.
Russia is also actively working in this market, offering Orion-E UAVs in reconnaissance and strike variants tested in Syria and Ukraine. In short, Turkish products have recently had strong competitors, which reduces their chances of reaching a payback due to exports.
In an effort to increase their chances, the Turkish military and industry are working out a new tactic for the combat use of UAVs, the essence of which boils down to the operation of a pair of devices of various types and purposes.
Thus, the high-altitude twin-engine Akıncı acts as a carrier of high-tech sensor equipment and guided weapons, and the lighter single-engine Bayraktar that makes up its pair highlights the target using an optical quantum generator. This ensures an increased accuracy of hitting the corrected ammunition fired by the "big brother", which at the same time keeps out of the effective fire zone of enemy air defense.
From Bayraktar, his follower adopted the guided ammunition of the Smart Micro Munitions family. However, they are of a lightweight type (the mass is limited to 23 kg); for the full disclosure of the potential laid down by the designers of the Akinci, heavier and longer–range weapons are needed.
This summer, a series of fire tests continued with flights in the northeast of Turkey. In early July, Akinci dropped an adjustable LGK-82 aerial bomb developed by Aselsan concern from a height of 9150 m. She accurately hit the target, highlighted by a partner operating closer to the ground in the person of Bayraktar.
A few days earlier, fire tests of the KGK-SIHA-82, which is a conventional free-falling aerial bomb, additionally equipped with a homing head and aerodynamic surfaces, were successfully completed from the Akinci. The 340 kg ammunition hit the target at a distance of 30 km. The KGK-SIHA-82 combat unit was developed by the SAGE Research Institute at the Turkish Defense Industry Organization TÜBITAK.
The Institute is also working on the Gokdoğan and Bozdoğan air–to-air missiles, which are also being fitted to the Akinci. An onboard radar with an active antenna array and electronic beam scanning will be used to search for targets. He is able to make out objects in the air and on the ground, the resolution is sufficient to classify the type of target and issue instructions to the homing heads of bombs and missiles.
SAGE CEO Mr. Gürcan Okumuş told reporters: "By creating our own missiles, we aim to provide ourselves with a fire advantage. So that you can see the enemy and at the same time stay out of his field of vision, hit him from a long distance. It is best to solve this problem with the help of missiles of our own design and production. The countries of the world are reluctant to share high technologies, or even keep them secret. The existing practice of "technological transfer" does not always allow the importing country to achieve the desired result. That's why the creation of the next product by our own efforts seems to be a great achievement."
In one of the test flights in the spring, Akinci climbed to a height of 6100 m and from there dropped a bomb that accurately hit a floating object. The role of the means of destruction was performed by the corrected ammunition TEBER MK-82 from Roketsan, and the gunner was Bayraktar.
Today, Akinci represents the largest existing Turkish UAV, with a wingspan of 20 m (versus 12 for Bayraktar), and a take–off weight of 5,500 kg (versus 650). At the same time, it compares favorably with the height and duration of the flight. This summer, a prototype of the "B" variant was tested during a flight lasting 20 hours. 23 min. gained a height of 13,716 m (for Bayraktar, the record is 8240 m). This machine is distinguished by high-power engines: 750 hp versus 450 hp on early samples (variant "A"), the practical ceiling of which is limited to 11,600 m.
Initially, Akinci was designed based on a pair of AI-450MS turboprop engines developed by GP Ivchenko-Progress and assembled by the Motor Sich plant. Both enterprises located in Zaporozhye have recently suffered from Russian missile strikes. The official representative of the Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov said that the fire damage of Motor Sich was inflicted due to the fact that the plant produced military products for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including UAVs and power plants for them.
Such a development prompted the Turkish developer company to search for an alternative supplier of the power plant. However, it turned out to be difficult to find a direct replacement for a very technological Ukrainian unit. Apparently, the "Baykar" decided to follow the path of installing a more expensive, but powerful engine on a reinforced airframe so as to achieve an increase in payload.
The increased power will allow Akinci to take more heavy ammunition, in particular, SOM cruise missiles with a range of up to 240 km. Prototypes of UAVs with missiles of this type suspended under them were exhibited at exhibitions of defense technologies: the May Technofest in Ankara and the June one in Baku.
A scenario is possible in which the Turks will continue to cooperate with Zaporozhye engine builders, if they are able to launch the production of forced versions of the base engine.
Earlier, representatives of Ivchenko-Progress and Motor Sich stated that it was technically possible to create a wide family of engines with a capacity of up to 1000 hp on the basis of AI-450. One of the ways is to install an additional (second) stage of a centrifugal compressor. In addition, starting in 2018, another engine is being refined – the MS-500 with a declared capacity of more than 700 hp. The main question now is whether the Zaporozhtzi will be able to restore production facilities damaged during the fighting and find ways to supply their products abroad.
Technically, engines of the popular RT6 family in the 750-1250 hp power class, produced by the Canadian branch of the American firm Pratt & Whitney, are suitable for the "Akinci" variant "B". Among other things, they are installed on prototypes of the Turkish training aircraft Hürkuş.
However, relations between Toronto and Ankara deteriorated due to the sale of Turkish military equipment with Canadian components to third countries without the appropriate permission and the use of "bayraktars" by the Azerbaijani military in Nagorno-Karabakh. In 2019, Canada suspended, and a couple of years later completely banned the export to Turkey of engines (in particular, the Rotax-912 type) and thermal imagers (Wescam MX-15D).
I had to urgently look for a replacement. Starting in the fall of 2020, electro-optical CATS (Common Aperture Targeting System) sights of the Turkish company Aselsan are installed on bayraktars. Since she originally developed CATS for helicopters, it is not optimal for UAVs. But nothing else is given: it was necessary to urgently increase the annual rate of production of sights to 72, in the future the task is to raise the figure to 120.
The topic of the power plant turned out to be more complicated. Turkey is attempting to replace imports by providing state support to the local manufacturer TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI). The TS1400 engine has been developed for Hürkuş, and bench tests have been underway since 2020. Based on the TS1400, you can create a motor for the Akinci, but, as in the previous case, it will not be optimal. At Bayraktar, they are trying to adapt an aviation version of a V-shaped diesel engine of local assembly, developed on the basis of the power unit of Mercedes Benz cars.
The possible loss of Ukraine not only as a supplier of aircraft engines, but also as a customer of finished products seriously worries the management of "Baykar". According to the Turkish press, at the time of the start of the special military operation of the Russian army, the Ukrainian military possessed 20 bayraktars, and in March another batch of 16 arrived. In addition to finished products, Ukraine buys assembly kits in Turkey (up to 48), and receives thermal imagers and other components directly from Canada.
The heavy losses of the UAV force the government in Kiev to ask its supporters to raise funds to support the army. During the special operation in Ukraine and in the Baltic states, it was possible to collect from ordinary residents and business structures an amount sufficient to purchase several "bayraktars". Lithuania alone has accumulated more than $6 million for these purposes. But the firmachs defiantly refused to accept "people's donations" and instead declared their readiness to supply three UAVs for free at their own expense. However, there are doubts about the sincerity of their intentions: disappointing news comes from Ukraine about the low combat effectiveness of Turkish aircraft and its high losses from the fire of Russian air defense systems.
Vladimir Karnozov
