Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) announced that its next-generation unmanned combat aircraft ANKA-III has cleared another key milestone in its development program. According to a statement shared on the company’s social media account, the platform successfully completed its 46th sortie as part of ongoing system verification and identification flight tests, and passed a series of critical autopilot trials.
TUSAS said ANKA-III, with its advanced architecture and high-performance design, reflects the company’s engineering capabilities and growing production strength.
ANKA-III, geliştirme sürecinde önemli bir eşiği daha geride bıraktı. ✈️
— Türk Havacılık Uzay Sanayii (@TUSAS_TR) December 8, 2025
Sistem doğrulama ve tanımlama test uçuşları kapsamında 46'ncı sortisini tamamlayan ANKA-III, kritik otopilot testlerini de başarıyla sonuçlandırdı.
Yüksek teknolojiye dayalı mimarisi ve üstün performansıyla… pic.twitter.com/VGNwTfE0FY
The aircraft has made rapid progress since its first flight on December 28, 2023. Earlier this year, ANKA-III conducted a successful internal-bay launch of ASELSAN’s TOLUN munition, followed by another test in which it dropped the LGK-82 guided bomb, hitting its target. In a separate trial, the UAV released the jet-powered Süper Şimşek target drone from its wing station, completing the mission successfully.
About ANKA-III
ANKA-III completed its first engine run in 2023 and performed its maiden flight later that year, conducting a fully autonomous sortie lasting over an hour before executing an automatic landing.
Designed in a flying-wing configuration for reduced visibility and powered by a turbofan engine for higher speeds, ANKA-III offers significant payload capacity through its internal bays. A second prototype has also begun flight testing.
The aircraft has a maximum takeoff weight of approximately seven tons, can operate at 40,000 feet, reach speeds of Mach 0.7, and remain airborne for up to 10 hours. Developed with contributions from roughly 250 engineers and technicians, the program incorporates AI-assisted modeling, simulation, and flight-control technologies.
Building on the operational experience of the ANKA and AKSUNGUR UAV families—together exceeding 250,000 flight hours—ANKA-III is set to become a key element of TUSAS’s unmanned aerial systems, supported by shared ground systems and designed to meet evolving operational requirements.
