28 novembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial
Progress on drone, vehicle engines signals Turkey’s independence from foreign suppliers
By: Burak Ege Bekdil ANKARA, Turkey — Two Turkish companies have consecutively reported significant progress toward building indigenous engines that would power locally made drones and armored vehicles. State-controlled company Tusas Engine Industries, or TEI, announced the completion of a program for the design, development and production of an indigenous engine that will power the Anka, a medium-altitude, long-endurance drone developed by TEI's sister company, Turkish Aerospace Industries, or TAI. TEI said it successfully integrated the PD170 engine to the Anka drone. The Anka, with the PD170, will go through flight tests later this year. TEI officials said the company already signed a serial production contract with TAI. The next step will be to win certification for the engine. TEI's general manager, Mahmut Akşit, said the PD170 program aims to end Turkey's dependency on foreign engine suppliers. “A further aspect of the program will be exporting the PD170 to foreign countries,” Akşit said. In 2012, TEI signed a contract with Turkey's procurement authority, then Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (now Presidency of Defense Industries), for the development of the PD170. TEI has a partnership agreement with U.S.-based General Electric. Turkish procurement authorities recently announced the selection of GE for the supply of engines to power the initial batch of the TF-X, Turkey's indigenous fighter jet in the making. The twin-engine TF-X will be powered by either the F110-GE-129 or the F110-GE-132 engine. Turkish officials say the GE engine would be a stopgap solution until “we have built our indigenous engine for the TF-X.” Under the deal, the first prototype of the TF-X and an unknown number of initial batches would be powered by an F110 engine. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2018/11/27/progress-on-drone-vehicle-engines-signals-turkeys-independence-from-foreign-suppliers