Turkey-Kazakhstan Joint Production Of Anka Drone, Capable Of Carrying Out Intelligence Missions To Armored Destruction

Drone TAI Anka Turki. (Wikimedia Commons / President.az)

JAKARTA - Turkey and Kazakhstan will start jointly producing drones that were sold to Central Asia last year, a statement said Wednesday.

The Anka, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aka drone, will be jointly produced by Turkish and Kazakh experts, according to a statement by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).

The drones will be manufactured at a soon-to-be-established facility in Kazakhstan. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Kazakhstan Engineering on technology transfer, including maintenance and repairs.

The latest development will make Kazakhstan the first Anka production base outside Turkey.

"Thanks to this agreement, we will contribute to the strengthening of our commercial and friendly relations with the friendly and fraternal country of Kazakhstan," said General Manager of TAI Temel Kotil. reported Daily Sabah 11 May.

Kazakhstan was reported in November to have purchased three Anka medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drones in a deal that follows a deal in October.

The two countries last May signed a military cooperation agreement, foreseeing the sharing of tactical experience and using reconnaissance and attack unmanned aerial vehicles.

Tunisia became the first buyer of TAI drones. It was reported in December that it had signed a contract to buy three Anka UAVs in a deal worth around $80 million.

The Anka made its maiden flight in December 2010. The mass production agreement for the armed version of the drone, the Anka-S, was signed in October 2013 and entered the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in 2017.

This drone can perform a variety of missions, including real-time intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, communication relay, target acquisition to tracking missions.

In addition, this drone can also be equipped with weapons such as the Roketsan Smart Micro Munition air launch missile launcher and the 2.75-inch Cirit guided rocket pod at its two lower weapons stations to attack light armored vehicles, personnel, military shelters to ground radar stations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kazakshtan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a joint declaration in the capital Ankara, upgrading bilateral relations to the level of "enhanced strategic partnership" on Tuesday.