Turkish Aerospace… Killer Mosquitos (UAV)

[SatNews] Turkish Aerospace Industries has performed the debut flight of its first unmanned rotorcraft, the Sivrisinek, or Mosquito, which is designed to carry air-launched weapons. Developed for the Turkish army, the Mosquito test aircraft has a 300kg (660lb) maximum take-off weight and is expected to carry a 120kg payload, including an Aselsan-supplied forward-looking infrared sensor. The UAV is also pictured carrying a below-fuselage container for Roketsan Cirit 70mm guided rockets. TAI says the Mosquito will have an endurance of 1.5h and a range of 4.3nm (8km), and be suitable for operations in high mountains and in hot environmental conditions. The first flight was performed from TAI’s Ankara-Akinci facility, and follows the 30 December debut sortie of the company’s Anka/Phoenix medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV.