Turkey’s New UAV Technology 

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

Turkey has been developing its own drone industry for some 10 years. One of the most prominent aerial vehicles, the Bayraktar TB2 armed drones, produced by the unmanned aerial platform developer Baykar, has been operationally used since 2015.

Alesta, a new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that uses tiltrotors for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) is going to join the Turkish security forces’ inventory as soon as it completes its first flight tests.

This vehicle with an anticipated first flight in 2020 will be a milestone for Turkey’s civil and defense needs of unmanned cargo/ equipment/ ammo/ food transportation, reports defenseworld.net.

The development of the UAV by Turkey’s Nurol BAE Systems Air Systems (BNA) has been part of efforts coordinated by Turkey’s Defense Industries Presidency (SSB). The SSB aims to develop new tools with different concepts for the security forces.

BNA is a joint venture between Turkey’s Nurol Holding and the U.K.’s BAE Systems. 

BNA aims to develop the UAV’s critical systems, including flight and engine control and fuel systems, from the ground up, according to dailysabah.com. 

Alesta’ configuration differs from that of other UAVs, claims the company’s General Manager, Eray Gökalp. “It can land and take off vertically. When it switches to cruise mode, the wings move to the horizontal position. It means that (Alesta) has the advantage of both a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft,” he said.

Alesta drones do not need a runway and can fly over longer distances in cruise mode. “Keeping the drones stable during the transition mode and under heavy winds presented some serious engineering challenges and needed some clever technological solutions. We have a very experienced staff,” Gökalp noted.