Advancements and Deployment of Turkish UAVs: A Strategic Overview

All that will come out of this is if push comes to shove Turkey will just produce local alternatives, or go elsewhere for alternatives.

Manufactured by the Turkish firm Baykar Technology, the TB2 can hover high above a battlefield and strike targets with laser-guided missiles. Baykar has maintained that the TB2s are domestically produced, with nearly all of the parts coming from within Turkey. But, as ProPublica reported this month, wreckage from downed drones in multiple conflicts has shown otherwise. A range of components were made by manufacturers in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
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But for the U.S., experts say, there are a number of diplomatic considerations. Turkey is a long-standing NATO ally. And, more recently, the TB2 has emerged as a critical tool in places like Ukraine, where the country’s military has used it to battle Russian forces — a fact that the drone maker, Baykar, has repeatedly emphasized in media coverage of the conflict. “I think it is one of the symbols of resistance,” Selçuk Bayraktar, the firm’s chief technology officer, told CNN. “It gives them hope.”
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www.propublica.org

U.S. Lawmakers Demand Federal Scrutiny of Turkey’s Drones

Members of Congress are calling for an investigation into how U.S. technology ended up in Turkey’s TB2 drone, which has fast become a favorite of embattled nations. “We need a full accounting,” said one lawmaker.
www.propublica.org www.propublica.org
 
Turkish company Baykar, which produces Ukraine's much beloved "Bayraktars" attack drones, is currently in the process of building a factory on Ukrainian territory, according to Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar.
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In an interview with RBC Ukraine published on Monday, Bodnar said that Baykar has already created a company in Ukraine and that a factory, which was rumored to be under construction before the beginning of the Russian invasion in late February, is still in development.

"The factory will be built. Just a week ago, the government approved the bilateral agreement and sent it to the parliament for ratification, the agreement on the construction of the plant itself," the diplomat said.
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www.newsweek.com

Turkey building drone factory in Ukraine to fight Putin's forces—Ambassador

Diplomat Vasyl Bodnar said that Baykar—the company which builds the Bayraktar TB2 drones—has already bought a plot of land in Ukraine.
www.newsweek.com
 
They are drones, simple as. With good guts. Thry are not miracle weapons. They are a relatively new part of the battlefield but the conflict in Ukraine popped the propaganda bubble of nagorno karabakh.
 
Combat-Master said:
Baykar Kizilelma Painted;
View attachment 679445

Turkey's local turbo fan engine TEI-TF6000 - 6,000lbf dry and 10,000lbf wet is to power it once development is completed, replacing Ivchenko AI-322F engine
View attachment 679446
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Further Information of Turkey's 6,000/10,000lbf turbofan engine development;

Having implemented the project with its resources considering Türkiye's turbofan engine needs, TEI is developing the first indigenous turbofan engine, TEI-TF6000, with 6000 lbf dry thrust. The engine, designed to support the TEI-TF10000-A/B configuration as the afterburner version, will provide 10000 lbf thrust together with the afterburner and will be able to reach the forces needed for supersonic flights.
The TEI-TF6000 Turbofan Engine and its derivatives to be developed from its core engine are available to be employed on various national platforms such as manned-unmanned warplanes, business jets, regional passenger planes, civil-military helicopters with 10-ton take-off weight, gunboats, and power plants.
With the TEI-TF6000 project, TEI aims at carrying out the design, development and manufacturing stages of the Turbofan Engine, accessory subsystems, fan module, variable fixed blade compressor, flow mixer exhaust, afterburner for the first time in Türkiye, and achieve ground breaking technology, local supplier industry companies, and experienced human resource in our country.

1660748857016.png

Technical Specifications​

  • Dry thrust (SLS, ISA): 6.000 lbf
  • Dimensions: 860x1100x2250mm
  • By-pass Ratio (SLS, ISA): 1,08
  • Specific Fuel Consumption (lbf/lbs.h): 0,70
  • Configuration
    • Fan: 2 stage axial
    • Compressor: 6 stage axial
    • Turbine: 1 stage HPT - 1 stage LPT
    • Combustion Chamber: Through Flow
 
Flyaway said:
All that will come out of this is if push comes to shove Turkey will just produce local alternatives, or go elsewhere for alternatives.

Manufactured by the Turkish firm Baykar Technology, the TB2 can hover high above a battlefield and strike targets with laser-guided missiles. Baykar has maintained that the TB2s are domestically produced, with nearly all of the parts coming from within Turkey. But, as ProPublica reported this month, wreckage from downed drones in multiple conflicts has shown otherwise. A range of components were made by manufacturers in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Click to expand...
But for the U.S., experts say, there are a number of diplomatic considerations. Turkey is a long-standing NATO ally. And, more recently, the TB2 has emerged as a critical tool in places like Ukraine, where the country’s military has used it to battle Russian forces — a fact that the drone maker, Baykar, has repeatedly emphasized in media coverage of the conflict. “I think it is one of the symbols of resistance,” Selçuk Bayraktar, the firm’s chief technology officer, told CNN. “It gives them hope.”
Click to expand...

www.propublica.org

U.S. Lawmakers Demand Federal Scrutiny of Turkey’s Drones

Members of Congress are calling for an investigation into how U.S. technology ended up in Turkey’s TB2 drone, which has fast become a favorite of embattled nations. “We need a full accounting,” said one lawmaker.
www.propublica.org www.propublica.org
Click to expand...

The early iterations of TB2 did have some parts coming in from foreign sources, most of them have been nationalised and BAYKAR claim to have 93% of the UAV nationalised - with Turkish made E/O ASELSAN CATS.
1661083370280.png

The only component, the ROTAX engine has been reverse engineered by TEI and left on the side lines in-case supplier country embargoes Turkey.

TEI-PG-115;
A115hp air cooled boxer engine with similar performance to ROTAX-914 but enhanced for high-altitude UAV operations
1661083568163.png

Turkey has multiple projects in-line with curving foreign interference.
 
Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 drone: Why African states are buying them
For African buyers, especially poorer countries, drones provide the chance to develop significant air power without the vast cost in equipment and years of elite training required to develop a conventional air strike force of manned jets.
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This is a particular attraction for states such as Niger and Togo.
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They face the complex challenge of curbing highly motivated and mobile bands of Islamist militants, camping out in the bush and moving quickly through the scrubby terrain of the Sahel by motorbike to stage ambushes and surprise attacks on isolated army and gendarmerie posts, border crossings and civilian communities.
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www.bbc.co.uk

Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 drone: Why African states are buying them

Togo is the latest country to buy the drones, which have proven their usefulness around the world.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
Canardzz said:
Combat-Master said:
Looks like Kizilelma prototype will fly with fixed landing gears
View attachment 683155
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But it looks like the landing gear has its own slot. Maybe it will act as a conventional landing gear you come across in airliners. It normally stays closed, only opens once the landing gear starts to retract and extend.
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Just common practice from Baykar, Akinci also had fixed landing gear for the first couple prototypes.
 
Combat-Master said:
Canardzz said:
Combat-Master said:
Looks like Kizilelma prototype will fly with fixed landing gears
View attachment 683155
Click to expand...
But it looks like the landing gear has its own slot. Maybe it will act as a conventional landing gear you come across in airliners. It normally stays closed, only opens once the landing gear starts to retract and extend.
Click to expand...

Just common practice from Baykar, Akinci also had fixed landing gear for the first couple prototypes.
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Yeah you're right. Must've missed that. The panels look fine to me btw. The rivets are exposed but that is to be expected. Considering the fuselage was already colored dark grey before they started to carve their way in. It doesn't look like further paint was applied.
 
Combat-Master said:
Close up of the panelling, looks rough
View attachment 683164
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Hi all, new here. I was worried about the exposed rivets too but they seem to be commonplace like Canardzz said. Here's an unfinished MQ-28: ezgif-3-6fc48d5eff.jpeg
I wonder how the final version will be like... I doubt there's any radar absorbing paint or seals on this prototype. My biggest RCS worry is now those two bumps at the top. Antennas? If so, I'd imagine they will integrate them better in later prototypes.
 
Some specs for Kizilelma UCAV;

Length; 14.7 meters
Wingspan; 10 meters
Height; 3.3 meters
Cruise/Max Speed: 0.6/0.9 Mach
Operational/Max Altitude; 35,000/45,000 feet
Operational range: 500nm
Useful load: 1,500kg
Max Takeoff weight; 6,000kg
Propulsion; 1xAI-25TLT, 1xAI-322F or 2xAI-322F (Confirming twin engine supersonic variant on the way)
STOL and Carrier Landing Capability

1661843629505.png
 
Is there an internal weapon bay on Kizilelma? I haven't seen any external hardpoints
 
There is IIRC. I think it is shown in an animation further up thread.
 

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