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Headache For India, Pakistan Flaunts ‘Much Superior’ Turkish Akinci Combat UAVs In Promotional Video

Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF’s) Public Relations Department recently released a video featuring various aircraft and weapon systems within the PAF’s fleet, including the Turkish-made Akinci combat drone.

The video by the PAF was released on October 19, when Pakistan’s President Dr. Arif Alvi visited the Air Headquarters, Islamabad as a chief guest to attend the inaugural ceremony of the two-day flagship international seminar titled ‘Global Strategic Threat and Response’ (GSTAR) arranged by Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS).

The video lasts for three minutes and twenty-one seconds. After two minutes and twenty-one seconds, a PAF Squadron Leader, reportedly wearing an Akinci patch, can inspect the Akinci drone armed with light glide bombs.

Notably, the latest video comes shortly after Pakistan flaunted its Bayraktar TB2 drones, a medium altitude long endurance UAV (MALE), during an Air Force drill in late September.

Haluk Bayraktar, the CEO of Baykar – the developers of Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci drones – revealed in March that the company has concluded two export contracts for the Akinci drone without specifying the countries to which the drone will be exported, neither the number of drones nor its value.




Image
A PAF Squadron Leader inspects the Akinci drone armed with light glide bombs. (DGPR, Pakistan Air Force)

Interestingly, just days after Bayraktar’s announcement, PAF’s Public Relations Department posted a video that also featured the Bayraktar and Akinci drones, among various other weapon systems, suggesting that the two drones either have been ordered by the PAF or perhaps already in use.

However, stock footage was used in the video for both drones, so it was unclear if either of them was actually delivered.

A Turkish defense portal reported in June, citing unnamed defense sources, claimed that Pakistan had placed an order for Akinci and Bayraktart TB2 drones without specifying the value of the contract or the number of drones involved.

Also, in January, there were some unconfirmed reports that Pakistan had purchased six Bayraktar TB2s from Baykar in March 2021 and signed an agreement with the Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI) to jointly develop a larger ANKA-S-type UAV.

Akinci Combat Drone

The Akinci, Turkish for “Raider,” is a high-altitude, long-endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) developed as a successor to the TB2 Bayraktar tactical UAV, which is currently the mainstay of Turkey’s military.

It is capable of performing both air-to-ground and air-to-air attack missions.

Baykar produced three prototypes initially, of which the first one took to air in December 2019. The flight test for the first mass-produced Akinci drone was completed in May 2021, following which the unmanned system was delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces in August 2021.




File Image: Akıncı Drone

The combat drone has a length of 12.2m, a height of 4.1m, and a wingspan of 20m. It can fly at an altitude of 40,000 feet (12,192 meters), has a take-off weight of 5,500 kg, and carries a maximum payload of 1,350 kg.

Compared to that, the Bayraktar TB2 can reach only up to 25,000 feet and has a payload capacity of only 150 kg.

The sensors onboard the drone includes an electro-optic/infrared/laser designation (EO/IR/LD), multi-mode active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and signals intelligence (SIGINT) system. The drone uses advanced AI features to collect and process data received from onboard sensors and cameras.

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