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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.

Şimşek is the Turkish word for "lightning".

Overview

Development started in 2009, and a prototype was presented to the public at the International Defence Industry Fair the same year. The UAV made its maiden flight on August 4, 2012.

Şimşek simulates enemy aircraft and missiles for air-to-air, surface-to-air, anti-aircraft gunnery and missile systems’ tracking and firing training. It looks like tactical air-launched decoys (TALDs).

TAI intends to further develop the drone 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.

In July 2020 TAI launched Şimşek from TAI Anka integrated arm and made history by launching the target drone from UAV for the first time.

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

1. "TAI Şimşek İnsansız Hava Aracı" (in Turkish). Daily Motion. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
2. "Şimşek İlk Kez Havalandı". TRT Haber (in Turkish). 2012-08-09. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
3. ^ "Programs-UAV Systems-Target Drone Systems-Şimşek". TAI. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
4. ^ "An overview of Turkish UAV R&D and production-TAI Simsek high-speed target drone". TR Defence. 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
5. "Türkiye 'Şimşek' ile dünyada bir ilke imza attı". www.trthaber.com (in Turkish). 14 July 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
6. "ŞİMŞEK target drone system integrated into ANKA UAV". English Defence News. 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2021-03-26.

External links

• Launch image of TAI Şimşek

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