Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has launched a small, armed, unmanned helicopter which it hopes could prove attractive to Middle Eastern countries as an attractive alternative to the products being produced in Israel.
The R-IHA – the Turkish acronym for rotary-wing UAS – was launched at the Paris Air Show last week and Gorkem Bilgi, business development leader at TAI’s integrated helicopter department said that the prototype is expected to achieve first flight in mid-2012.Bilgi told journalists that negotiations are ongoing with several potential customers within Turkey, including the navy, gendarmerie and national police.
TAI started the R-IHA programme after detecting a gap in the market for an unmanned helicopter between 300kg (660lb) and 500kg. The prototype design is listed with an endurance of 4h, a maximum take-off weight of 340kg with a 100kg payload, 10,000ft (3,050m) service ceiling and a top cruise speed of 100kt (185km/h).
The R-IHA joins a UAS portfolio within TAI that includes a medium-altitude long-endurance UAS called the AMKA. The first vehicle achieved first flight in December. Two more vehicles are scheduled for delivery in 2012 to complete an initial order from Turkey.