Uzbekistan to buy military drones from Turkey

Uzbekistan will receive ANKA drones manufactured by the Turkish company TUSAS, according to the "SavunmaSanayiST" portal.

Deliveries under the contract are planned to begin in the near future. The Uzbek side did not provide information on how many of these drones will be purchased, their price, or the terms of the signed agreement.

These Turkish drones were developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries in accordance with the needs of the country's Armed Forces. Initially intended for air surveillance and reconnaissance missions in the early 2000s, the ANKA has evolved into a modular platform with synthetic aperture radars, precision weapons, and satellite communications. The basic version of the ANKA-A is classified as a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance missions. Introduced in 2010, this type of drone signed its first contract with the Turkish Air Force in 2013.

The forces demanded further research into advanced continuous reconnaissance and communications technologies. The aircraft entered a long development phase to incorporate a national mission computer, a national flight control system, a synthetic aperture radar, a domestically produced engine, and a system for identifying friend or foe. The ANKA-B made its first flight in 2014 and completed factory testing in 2015. In 2017, Turkish Aerospace Industries introduced the ANKA-S, and the aircraft entered service with the Turkish Air Force.

Turkish Aerospace Industries will offer the aircraft in the ANKA-B and ANKA-S versions. The ANKA-I was specially designed for the Turkish National Intelligence Organization for signals intelligence. As of March 2021, the ANKA has accumulated over 90,000 flight hours. The drone is named after the mythological creature Phoenix, known in Turkish as “Zümrüd-ü Anka.”

It is worth noting that in 2024, combat readiness measures in Uzbekistan increased by 1.5 times compared to 2023, and the professional training of the command structure was enhanced. The troops are conducting exercises with drones.