The Argentine Minister of Defense, Jorge Taiana, held a meeting with the Turkish Ambassador to Argentina, Süleyman Ömür Budak, and representatives of the company Turkish Aerospace Industry, in order to advance in cooperation agreements in the field of defense between both nations.
With the aim of developing a framework for cooperation in the defense industry to improve scientific and technical capabilities in the field of modern defense systems, Minister Taiana and Ambassador Budak advanced in the guidelines of a future Memorandum of Understanding that will allow industrial cooperation in the field of research and development of defense equipment, natural disaster risk management, among other aspects.
In addition, they decided to sign an agreement on cooperation in the defense industry with the Defense Industry Agency of the Republic of Turkey, which will seek to establish cooperation in the field of the defense industry between the parties to improve production capabilities, procurement, maintenance of goods and services and relevant technical and logistical support.
ANKA Drones and other TAI products
Representatives of Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI) presented their portfolio of air and space systems to the personnel of the three Armed Forces, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Ministry of Defense. Among them, various fixed and rotary wing aircraft, unmanned aerial systems and observation and communications satellites were highlighted.
They also presented a concrete proposal for the ANKA unmanned system. According to its manufacturer, this medium-altitude, long-endurance platform (MALE), which can carry a payload of 350 kg and has a flight endurance of more than 30 hours, is dual-purpose, both for surveillance and combat operations, as well as for security and disaster relief.
The ANKA can be equipped with different types of optronic and/or radar sensors, and can employ air-to-ground guided ordnance from four wing pylons. There is even a version, called ANKA-I, which integrates advanced intelligence and electronic warfare equipment, which was successfully used by the Turkish Armed Forces for the suppression of enemy air defenses in recent conflicts.
The proposal includes the possibility of productive cooperation agreements (also called offset) to integrate developments of the Argentine industry. TAI currently has a joint venture with the Argentine company INVAP for the joint development of communications satellites.
