This week’s Quwa Premium article is a recap of some defence news items from around the world. Besides a basic overview of the news item, this article also offers short-form analysis of each topic.
Kazakhstan to Reportedly Buy 3 Anka UAVs
Turkish news outlet HaberTürk reported that Kazakhstan ordered three Anka unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) from Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). If accurate, this would be TAI’s second Anka sale. The first was the sale of three Anka-S UAVs to Tunisia for $80 million U.S.
The TAI Anka is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,700 kg and offers a payload of 250 kg, which it can utilize for surveillance equipment and precision-guided air-to-surface munitions. TAI offers multiple variants of the Anka UAV, but the mainstay variant seems to be the Anka-S, a satellite-communications (SATCOM)-equipped system. The Anka-S can operate at beyond-line-of-sight (BLoS) ranges. Without SATCOM, the standard Anka-S can operate at a range of over 250 km.
Turkey’s drone industry is in the upswing. Certainly, its recent export successes have drawn attention. But it is worth noting that TAI, despite being the largest aerospace supplier in Turkey, is not the leading driver of drone sales. Turkey’s top drone exporter is Baykar, which manufacturers the Bayraktar TB2, a smaller UAV that garnered a positive reputation from its combat usage in the Middle East.
Though a private sector company, Baykar led Turkey’s entry in the global drone market and, in turn, made it one of the world’s top UAV suppliers. In key markets such as the Middle East and Africa, Turkey seems to be second-only to China, but in others, like Central Europe, Turkey is the top supplier.
That said, it seems that the Anka-series is poised to enter new markets. In August 2021, TAI had signed an agreement with Pakistan’s National Engineering and Science Commission (NESCOM) to both co-produce and continue co-develop the Anka. TAI could be sensing a sales opportunity in Pakistan.
Besides exports, Turkey’s drone development is advancing. Both Baykar and TAI are flying larger designs – i.e. Akıncı and Aksungur, respectively. Baykar is also developing a jet-powered unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) for carrier operations and loyal wingman applications, the MIUS.
Images Suggest Pakistan’s Type 054A/Ps Will Use CM-302s
New close-up images of the Pakistan Navy’s (PN) new Type 054A/P frigate, PNS Tughril, indicate that the new warships are coming equipped with the CM-302 supersonic anti-ship cruising missile (ASCM). It was evident that the Tughril-class was not configured with the standard 2×4 C-802 ASCM load-out, but it was not clear what type of missile the PN chosen (i.e. CM-302 or CM-401).
China has been marketing the CM-302 ASCM since at least 2016. Equipped with a ramjet engine, the CM-302 is capable of low-altitude cruising at Mach 2 and high-altitude cruising at Mach 3. It has a stated range of 290 km and, likely, using an active radar-homing (ARH) terminal-stage seeker.
By seemingly fitting the Tughril-class frigate with the CM-302, the PN is countering the Indian Navy’s (IN) BrahMos by emulating the capability. The BrahMos is a challenge for the PN because it aggressively closes the response time PN ships have in stopping the missile. Moreover, stopping the missile does not mitigate the threat as the BrahMos’ high speed could result in highly damaging shrapnel towards ships that manage to intercept it. The PN is looking to present a similar challenge to the IN, but through the CM-302.
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