Prototype of stealthy TAI ANKA-3 Unmanned Combat Aircraft System left the hangar
TAI CEO Prof. Dr. Temel Kotil posted the images of ANKA-3 MIUS’s (Turkish acronym for Unmanned Combat Aircraft System) protoype, HURJET Trainer and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) on taxi tests and the National Combat Aircraft (TF-X) on Twitter. ANKA-3 MIUS was first announced by the Vice President Fuat Oktay during his speech on 13th of December 2022. On 24th of December 2022, 3D renderings were released to the public.
ANKA-3 MIUS features a MTOW of 7 tons, tailless flying wing design for a much lower RCS (Radar Cross Section), internal or external weapons carriage and flight at high subsonic speeds. Existence of extenral hardpoints comes as an extraordinary design preference as ANKA-3’s counterparts from countries such as USA and China were rather preferred with internal bays only. ANKA-3 in this context can be regarded as a air-to-ground/surface focused complement to Baykar Tech’s air-to-air combat emphasizing KIZILELMA.
ANKA-3’s mission profile encompasses Air-to-Ground, SEAD/DEAD, ISR and Electronic Warfare. It can be estimated that AI-322 turbofans will power the prototype which will also be used on later models of Bayraktar KIZILELMA will be used on ANKA-3 with technical and political factors considered. Such as viability of AI-322 to power an aircraft of such weight and Turkish-Ukrainian cooperation on aircraft engines.
