TAI_Şimşek
TAI Şimşek
Turkish target drone
TAI Şimşek is a turbojet-powered radio-controlled high-speed target drone designed, developed and built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) between 2009-2012 for the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces.
| TAI Şimşek | |
|---|---|
| TAI Şimşek, render image | |
| Role | Unmanned drone target drone |
| Manufacturer | Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) |
| First flight | August 4, 2012 |
| Primary user | Turkish Armed Forces |
Şimşek is the Turkish word for "lightning".
Development started in 2009, and a prototype was presented to the public at the International Defence Industry Fair the same year.[1] The UAV made its maiden flight on August 4, 2012.[2]
Şimşek simulates enemy aircraft and missiles for air-to-air, surface-to-air, anti-aircraft gunnery and missile systems’ tracking and firing training.[3] It looks like tactical air-launched decoys (TALDs).[4]
TAI intends to further develop the drone into a cruise missile with "Human-in-the-Loop" (HITL) guidance capability for use against mobile or fixed soft targets.[4]
Payloads of TAI Şimşek consists of following features:[3]
- Passive Radar Cross-Section Augmenter (Luneburg lens)
- Passive IR Signature
- Miss Distance Indicator (MDI)
- Counter-measures Dispensing System
- Tracking Smoke Generator
The drone is launched from a catapult and recovered by parachute. It can take off and can be controlled from navy vessels.[3]
In July 2020 TAI launched Şimşek from TAI Anka integrated arm and made history by launching the target drone from UAV for the first time.[5][6]
Data from Turkish Aerospace Industries TAI[3]
General characteristics
- Crew: 0
- Wingspan: 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 740 km/h (460 mph, 400 kn)
- Endurance: 60 min
- Service ceiling: 4,500 m (14,800 ft)
- "TAI Şimşek İnsansız Hava Aracı" (in Turkish). Daily Motion. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
- "Şimşek İlk Kez Havalandı". TRT Haber (in Turkish). 2012-08-09. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
- "Programs-UAV Systems-Target Drone Systems-Şimşek". TAI. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
- "An overview of Turkish UAV R&D and production-TAI Simsek high-speed target drone". TR Defence. 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
- "Türkiye 'Şimşek' ile dünyada bir ilke imza attı". www.trthaber.com (in Turkish). 14 July 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
- "ŞİMŞEK target drone system integrated into ANKA UAV". English Defence News. 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
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