Neha Patil (Editor)

TAI Şimşek

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Top speed
  
740 km/h

First flight
  
August 4, 2012

Wingspan
  
1.5 m

Manufacturer
  
Turkish Aerospace Industries

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.

Contents

Şimşek is the Turkish word for "lightning".

Overview

The development of TAI Şimşek started in 2009, and its prototype was presented to public at the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF '09) the same year. The UAV made its maiden flight on August 4, 2012.

TAI Şimşek simulates enemy aircraft and missiles for air-to-air, surface-to-air, anti-aircraft gunnery and missile systems’ tracking and firing trainings. It looks like tactical air-launched decoys (TALD), which are used to confuse and saturate enemy air defense.

TAI intends to further develop the drone to convert into a cruise missile with "Human-in-the-Loop" (HITL) guidance capability for use against mobile or fixed soft targets.

Payloads of TAI Şimşek consists of following features:

  • 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.

    Specifications

    Data from Turkish Aerospace Industries TAI

    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)

    • References

    TAI Şimşek Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA