As A Result Of Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine, Turkey Deploys Special Anka Drone With Radar For Mine Detection In The Black Sea

Drone TAI Anka Turki. (Wikimedia Commons/N13s013)

JAKARTA - Turkey has integrated a new radar into the Anka unmanned aerial vehicle (UCAV), to detect floating sea mines in the Black Sea, a result of Russia's war with Ukraine.

The head of the Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) Ismail Demir in a statement on Twitter that this special drone will be used to detect mines, so that they can be tamed by Turkey's elite Underwater Defense (SAS) team.

"We integrated a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) into the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Anka UCAV, which has been added to the inventory of the Turkish Naval Command (DzKK)," Demir was quoted as saying by Daily Sabah April 14.

Developed by Turkish defense giant Aselsan, SAR is an airborne radar system used for high-resolution ground imaging and detection of moving targets on the ground.

SAR systems are highly effective in aerial surveillance applications, enabling effective 24/7 imaging in all types of adverse weather conditions.

So far, Turkey has found three 'stray' sea mines in the Black Sea which were later defused by the SAS team.

Reported earlier, Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of laying mines in the Black Sea. At the end of March, a team of Turkish and Romanian military divers defused illegal mines around their waters.

The Black Sea borders Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Russia, which have been at war since President Vladimir Putin's forces invaded the country's southern neighbor on February 24.

Meanwhile, the Black Sea is a major shipping artery for grain, oil and oil products. The sea is connected to the Marmara and then the Mediterranean Sea via the Bosphorus, which flows through the heart of Istanbul – Turkey's largest city with 16 million inhabitants – and then the Dardanelles further to the southwest.