CTech Information Technologies has achieved a significant milestone in meeting the domestic satellite terminal needs of national unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with its indigenous satellite terminals, Anka-S and Aksungur, reaching 500 hours of flight time. According to information obtained by AA correspondent, the Turkish defense industry has made significant progress in meeting the satellite air terminal needs of national UAVs with domestic solutions.
CTech Bilişim Teknolojileri A.S., in accordance with orders received from Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TUSAŞ), continues its deliveries. Wideband satellite communication systems have been integrated into 5 Anka-S and Aksungur UAVs. CTech’s satellite system has undergone approximately 500 hours of flight, including test activities. The work towards delivering the satellite units to new UAVs is still ongoing.
Deliveries began last year
Cüneyd Fırat, the General Manager of CTech, stated that they have been working on UAV satellite terminals since the end of 2014. Fırat mentioned that they conducted prototyping and ground tests in the initial phase and signed a contract with TUSAŞ in July 2018, which includes satellite terminals and miniHUB systems currently in operation.
Fırat explained that the first flight tests of the terminals started in September 2019 and were successfully conducted. He said, “Following the completion of flight tests as expected, we made our first air satellite terminal shipments to TUSAŞ in July 2020. Additionally, we signed a contract with TUSAŞ in March 2020 for the Mobile Satellite Ground Terminals (MUYT), which are the ground control part of our air satellite terminals. We completed the acceptance tests of the MUYT systems in December 2020 and started our first shipments and deliveries in January 2021. As a result of these processes, Anka-S and Aksungur UAVs are now flying and performing their missions with CTech satellite terminals.”
Fırat stated that CTech satellite terminals are currently being used in Anka-S and Aksungur UAVs, and their expectation is for their products to find a place in different UAV platforms both nationally and internationally, benefiting from the flight experience gained.
Strategic advantage
Highlighting that satellite air terminals provide UAVs with a strategic advantage by enabling operations over thousands of kilometers beyond the horizon, Fırat said, “We consider it highly important that these systems have been localized and put into service for the first time. Until now, these terminals were procured from abroad. Dependence on foreign countries for such critical subsystems can impose significant export restrictions. As CTech, we are honored to develop and deploy our country’s first air satellite terminal and contribute to our nation’s independence.”
New products on the way
Cüneyd Fırat stated that they are intensively working to improve the characteristics of satellite terminals and increase product diversity in this field. Fırat said, “Among our short and medium-term goals, our priority is to increase the number of customers and UAV platforms that use our existing products, both domestically and internationally. Additionally, you will soon see mobile satellite terminals operating in different frequency bands in CTech’s product portfolio, serving not only UAVs but also other airborne, maritime, and land platforms.”
