TR UAV/UCAV Programs | Anka - series | Kızılelma | TB - series

[YeşilVatan]

I'll toss a rock down the well:

Is it possible/practical to equip TB-3 as a relay drone to control other assets further away? Can it be done with a pod or something?

 

[Fairon]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1858940275139207480

 

[Yasar_TR]

Congratulations to Baykar!
I always thought the take off should be no problem. And with a slightly more powerful engine like PD220, heavier payloads will be possible.

It was the landing I was worried about. If you watch the landing, the flightpath is very close to the edge of the big rear lift. It did touch down by a good clearance however. Also the plane stopping with 50-60metres to spare, means it can be a little more relaxed with the touch down distance from the rear of the ship and it would give better landing distance tolerance in heavier seas.

This s a big threshold for our marine airforce. We need to contemplate about the TCG-Trakya now!
This UCAV will be a game changer for our naval forces. For one thing it will add tons of power to the self defence of TCG-Anadolu. It will help project fire power further afield.

EDIT
TCG-Trakya can be the KE launcher as KE will need arrester cables to stop. And the deck needs to be suitable accordingly as per Mr Selcuk Bayraktar’s statements.

 

[boredaf]

1W A-size passive directional sonobuoys packing under 10kg while NATO standard G-size is under 6kg., but I think the sonobuoys dispenser pod for UAVs and the sonobuoy monitoring and control system (SMCS) are the main weights here. The weight of the SDS pod using in the MQ9B is around 130 kg. A system consisting of 8-10 sonobuoys may barely fit. When we talk about detecting subs, a MAD system may also be included. The AN/ASQ-508 Advanced Integrated Magnetic Anomaly Detection System (AIMS) package weight is 27kg in official sources. In the more compact 30W MAD-XR developed for helis, they reduced the weight to under 2kg. But, If we say that CATS is 55kg and a SAR/ISAR optimized for TB-3 is 30kg on average, AIS, conformal antennas etc, unfortunately I couldn't figure it out how to take off.

I guess distributed systems are the best for this class. An ASW+ISTAR teaming system consisting of 3-4 UCAVs can be designed. But in that case, it would be quite challenging to work in different sectors simultaneously.

I don't know about the specifics as you do mate, but if everything necessary can't be carried on one drone, than multiple drones (let's say, for example, 3 as "seeders" for buoys and one to patrol the area and monitor them) would be the way to go like you suggested and it would be worth it imo. It is going to have more than twice the range of a helicopter, it would be a mistake to not take advantage of that.

 

[TheInsider]

The naval variant of TB3 has an MTOW of 1450kg, and the land-based variant has an MTOW of 1600kg. Both can carry 280kg of payload. TB3 took off and landed just as I expected smoothly without any problems. IMO, the landing was an overkill it didn't use more than half of the runway and this was an autonomous landing. KE will also take off without any problems but it needs an arresting cable for landing.

 

[hugh]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1858970142740210065

 

[hugh]

The War-Zone article

TB3 Operates From Turkey’s ‘Drone Carrier’ Amphibious Assault Ship For The First Time

TB3 testing aboard TCG Anadolu puts Turkey one step closer to fielding a first-of-its-kind operational fixed-wing naval drone capability.

www.twz.com

 

[Oublious]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1858970466050076999

 

[TheInsider]

By the way the last approach speed of TB3 is 60 knots and relative speed to TCG Anadolu (18knots) is 42knots. This landing is thanks to the aerodynamic design of TB3 it has a very low stall speed. It doesn't need arresting cables but i think some sort of safety precaution should be included maybe safety net?