ANKA III, which conducted its first engine run in 2023, took to the skies for the first time on December 28. The fully autonomous flight lasted over an hour, during which all systems were tested, followed by an automatic landing.

Continuing its tests rapidly, the ANKA III Air-to-Ground Mission Aircraft has commenced ammunition flight tests. During its 12th sortie, it successfully hit the target with pinpoint accuracy using the TEBER-82 Guidance Kit. In its second test, ANKA III successfully carried out another test with the TOLUN munition.

ANKA III stands out with its low observability enabled by its flying wing configuration, high speed provided by its turbofan engine, and significant payload capacity in its internal stations. Its second prototype has also begun test flights.

ANKA III, with a takeoff weight of approximately 7 tons, will operate at altitudes of up to 40,000 feet, reach speeds of 0.7 Mach, and remain airborne for up to 10 hours.

In this project, which progressed from concept to first flight in a remarkably short time, nearly 250 engineers and technicians utilized AI-supported modeling, simulation, and flight control technologies.

Built upon the engineering expertise gained from the ANKA and AKSUNGUR programmes and 1,000,000 hours of flight experience, the ANKA III Unmanned Air-to-Ground Mission Aircraft is a key component of the Turkish Aerospace Industries’ family of unmanned aerial vehicles, designed to meet the requirements of the operational theatre through a ground systems partnership. The ANKA III Air-to-Ground Mission Aircraft will be delivered to the Air Force Command within the planned timeframe.