Turkish Aerospace Industries to supply Anka UCAV Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles to Indonesia.

Indonesia on August 2 announced the purchase of 12 new Turkish-made combat drones, becoming the first Asian country to purchase Türkiye's UAVs, trtworld.com reports.

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Envisioned in the early 2000s for aerial surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Anka has evolved into a modular platform with synthetic aperture radar, precise weapons and satellite communications  (Picture source: TAI)

Indonesia has bought 12 new drones from Turkish Aerospace Industries worth $300 million, its Defence ministry said. The announcement made on Tuesday stated that the total value of 12 new Anka Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) is $300 million. At $8.89 billion, the Defence ministry has the biggest allocation from the country's total budget in 2023.

The deal with Ankara-based Turkish Aerospace Industries was finalised in February and the drones are expected to be delivered within 32 months of the signing. It also includes training and flight simulators, the defence ministry said in a statement.

Envisioned in the early 2000s for aerial surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Anka has evolved into a modular platform with synthetic aperture radar, precise weapons and satellite communications. The drone is named after Phoenix, a mythological creature called Zümrüd-ü Anka in Turkish.

The basic version, Anka-A, was classified as a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance missions. Introduced in 2010, Anka granted its first contract in 2013 from Turkish Air Force. The Force requested further studies in advanced uninterrupted intelligence, reconnaissance and communication technologies. The aircraft was set to a long development phase to introduce a national mission computer, national flight control system, synthetic aperture radar, indigenous engine and friend or foe identification system. Anka-B made its first flight in 2014 and completed factory tests in 2015. In 2017, Turkish Aerospace Industries introduced Anka-S and the aircraft entered service with the Turkish Air Force.

Turkish Aerospace Industries offers the aircraft in two versions, Anka-B and Anka-S. Anka-I was developed specifically for Turkey's National Intelligence Organization for signal intelligence.