Successful Fire Test of Guided Munitions from UAV

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Turkey has successfully test-fired guided munitions, the Smart Micro Munition (MAM-L), from an Anka-S unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) controlled by satellite. MAM-L munition, produced by Turkish Roketsan, has a range of 8–14 km.

The unmanned aircraft can conduct a range of missions such as real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), communication relay, target acquisition and tracking, according to airforce-technology.com.

Six Anka-S UAVs have been delivered to the Turkish Air Force Command, with four more planned by the end of 2018, as reported by janes.com. The move was announced by the Directorate for Turkish Defence Industries (SSB).

Anka-S 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.

Turkish procurement agency Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) signed a framework agreement with TAI to develop and produce 10 Anka-S UAVs and associated ground stations to meet the requirements of the Turkish Air Force, in October 2013.

The UAV performed its maiden flight in September 2016 and entered serial production in 2017.

MAM-L is classified as “Micro Munition” with a weight less than 50 lb and length less than 1m, optimized for use from all UAV classes and light attack aircraft where minimum payload weight is the most critical mission requirement.