Vestel will shortly deliver the first of its Karayel unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) to the Turkish Land Forces.
Speaking to IHS Jane's , Vestel engineers Emrah iek and Hüseyin Aktan said that one air vehicle and a ground control station (GCS) will be handed over in July. On 30 April Vestel completed the first test flight of a production-standard Karayel.
The Turkish Land Forces tasked Vestel with developing the system to meet their requirements in early 2011. The service sees the platform as filling a tactical role, one tier beneath that of the Anka medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS.
iek said that six air vehicles, three GCSs, and associated communications systems are scheduled to be delivered by the end of the year.
The system currently features a line-of-sight datalink; however, iek said that the next-generation aircraft will likely feature a satellite communications system and he added that in 2015 Vestel may start to examine the potential to arm the aircraft.
The UAS was set to enter service in 2013, but this date was pushed to the right by changes in system requirements by the customer.
The production-standard version of the Karayal features an inverted T-tail, a maximum take-off weight of 550 kg, can carry a 70 kg payload, has an endurance of 20 hours, and an operational ceiling of 22,500 ft. The payload is belly-mounted in a gimbal and currently consists of electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) sensors, as well as laser rangefinder and pointer devices.
At Eurosatory 2014, Vestel and France's LH Aviation announced a plan to jointly develop an unmanned version of the latter's LH-10 aircraft. At this stage, the programme envisages the unmanned elements of the Karayel being ported across to the LH-10 platform and the same GCS utilised.
The Karayel's GCS can be configured for a crew of two (pilot and payload operator) or three (plus a mission commander) and is compliant with NATO interoperability standards for unmanned aircraft control and integration; two aircraft can be controlled simultaneously.
Source : IHS Jane's
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