Fiber optic cables produced at Bilkent University National Nanotechnology Research Center (UNAM) successfully passed critical tests and acceptance and received its first contract from ROKETSAN.
Fiber optic cables, produced at Bilkent University National Nanotechnology Research Center (UNAM), owned by a few countries in the world and of great importance for many sectors, have successfully passed critical tests and acceptance and started to be used in the local and national defense industry.
Bilkent University UNAM chief researcher Bülend Ortaç, stated that as a result of the latest R&D studies at UNAM, they started to produce polarization protected (PM) fiber optics, which have been produced in only a few countries since the 1980s, and that these have successfully passed all the critical tests required for the defense industry.
Stating that the development of PM fiber optics requires a difficult process, Ortaç said:
"The production of fiber optic cables, which are thinner than a hair strand, requires high technology. Since it is a critical technology, there was no written document in the literature or any source on how to produce the composite structure. That is why the production of fiber optic cables took years. In this process, 130 different "We tried the recipe and eventually succeeded. Thus, Turkey became one of the limited number of countries with this high technology, which is of critical importance especially for the defense industry."
It is of critical importance for land, sea and air platforms.
Ortaç stated that special PM fibers, which can be produced at UNAM in lengths over 100 kilometers at a time, have been developed to meet the needs of different industries, especially the defense industry.
Stating that fibers are used in special areas where critical equipment such as inertial measurement units (IOM) are located on land and air-sea platforms, from the tactical level to the above-navigation level, Ortaç said, "Gyroscopic devices have been developed to control the movement of ships and aircraft. In automatic flight control and route determination in aircraft." "It has important usage areas. Fiber cables are a critical technology for this and many similar platforms." said.
Ortaç gave the following information about the fiber optics they developed:
"The developed fiber optics have an important function in reducing Turkey's foreign dependency in this field. After producing the fibers, we qualified them with our own infrastructure. Then, we worked jointly with companies in the important defense industry organizations of our country. The fibers successfully passed critical tests and acceptance in their own field environments. We also provided the first supply needed by an important defense industry company. In other words, UNAM was one of the sources from which the domestic defense industry met its fiber optic needs. PM fibers are the first commercial product produced by UNAM in its infrastructure with its own resources and expertise. Critical for the defense industry "This technology will increase Turkey's competitiveness in the international arena with domestic production."
"We have the infrastructure to make larger-scale mass production"
UNAM Infrastructure Manager Özgür Yıldırım emphasized that the center is the only organization with fiber production infrastructure in Turkey.
Stating that they made large-scale production of polarization-protected fibers and delivered them to ROKETSAN for the first time, Yıldırım said, "Thus, we have first implemented the critical technology that can be used on all platforms. We have the infrastructure to make larger-scale mass production according to future demands." he said.
Referring to the importance of strategic products in the defense industry, Yıldırım said, "You cannot buy some defense industry products even if you have money. With this strategic product, we have broken foreign dependency and provided millions of dollars of profit to our country. Now, we will have the possibility of selling fiber optics abroad in the future." said.
Explaining that UNAM continues its work within the scope of the 1004 Center of Excellence Support Program, which brings together the public, industry and universities in Turkey with the understanding of TÜBİTAK's "developing together and achieving together", Yıldırım said, "UNAM is the manager within the scope of the program and TUSAŞ, Vestel "The A1 platform, in which Şişecam and Bilkent University, Eskişehir Technical University, Abdullah Gül University and TOBB ETÜ are involved as project executing organizations, aims to bring value-added technologies to our country for domestic and national production purposes with its advanced R&D studies." he said.
Özgür Yıldırım noted that their new goal is to produce special optical fibers for the needs of the industry, including preforms, the raw material of optical fibers.
Türk savunma sanayisinde yerli ve milli fiber optik dönemi
Bilkent Üniversitesi Ulusal Nanoteknoloji Araştırma Merkezinde (UNAM) üretilen fiber optik kablolar, kritik test ve kabullerden başarıyla geçerek yerli ve milli savunma sanayisinde kullanılmaya başlandı. - Anadolu Ajansı
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