Indonesia reportedly orders 12 Anka unmanned combat aerial vehicles from Turkey

 

The TAI Anka-S UCAV. Photo c/o TAI.

The Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MOD) has reportedly signed a contract with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) for the acquisition of 12 Anka unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV).

The UCAVs are expected to be delivered to the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) which has a requirement for several UCAVs and has been looking at Turkey for solutions for the past few years.

Reports coming from Turkish defense sources have not provided much details have been provided on the value of the deal aside, the variant to be acquired or what were included in the deal aside  from the total quantity of UCAVs.

The announcement was made as TAI was said to have also received orders for their Anka UCAV from Algeria and Chad, which ordered 10 and 2 units, respectively, with the total orders including those for Indonesia exceeding US$500 million.

The TAI Anka has several variants although it is believed that the Anka-S variant would be the one being procured by Indonesia, being the serial production variant and being offered for export markets.

Aside from being used as an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle armed with air-to-ground munitions including the ROKETSAN Cirit guided rocket, L-UMTAS air-to-ground missile, and the MAM smart micro munition, the Anka UCAV can be used for surveillance and can be equipped with radars and cameras.

Aside from Indonesia, another potential buyer of the Anka UCAV in the region is Malaysia, with the Anka believed to be the front-liner in Malaysia’s tender.




[1] Savunma Sanayisyt