Pakistan signs contract with Turkish aerospace industries to jointly produce military drones

Pakistan’s National Engineering and Science Commission (NESCOM) signed a contract with the Turkish Aerospace Industries for the joint production of “ANKA Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.”

The contract will specifically ensure the development of ANKA Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Within the scope of the agreement, components belonging to ANKA will be produced and developed.

The ANKA is “the serial production variant of Anka medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which was developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) for the Turkish Armed Forces.”

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Within the scope of the contract signed to expand the potential market for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and increase the cooperation between Pakistan and Turkey, TAI and NESCOM; will be jointly responsible for employment, resource, and technology transfer.

Prof. Dr. Temel Kotil, TAI General Manager, explained, “The contract we made with Pakistan within the scope of our ANKA UAV systems will provide significant gains to the UAV industry. This acquisition, especially with Pakistan’s National Engineering and Science Commission, will strengthen our UAVs.” 

He further detailed, “It is very important that we continue our historical brotherhood for the gains of both countries. We will implement the human resources cooperation we have made in the past years in this contract as well. Besides; We will develop production and especially technological developments together.”

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Anka-A, the first version, was classified as a medium-altitude long-endurance uncrewed aerial vehicle (MALE UAV) envisioned in the early 2000s for tactical surveillance and reconnaissance missions. 

Further versions evolved into a modular platform with synthetic aperture radar, precise weapons, and satellite communication. The drone is named after the phoenix; a mythological creature also called Zümrüd-ü Anka in Turkish. 

The UAV performed its maiden flight in September 2016 and entered serial production in 2017. The first batch of two Anka-S UAV systems was delivered to the Turkish Air Force in February 2018.

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