TİTRA is jointly working on giving its ALPİN unmanned helicopter the capability to take off from and land on ships with Airbus.
TİTRA CEO Abdulkadir Şener stated to Anadolu News Agency that this capability has been developing for months in response to Turkiye’s and other countries’ demands. Şener added that Airbus has experience developing autopilot systems for landing on naval platforms and is interested in jointly working with TİTRA as ALPİN will be first in this segment for the multi-national firm.
ALPİN serving with the Turkish Navy opens possibilities for taking loads off S-70 Seahawk helicopters in SAR, logistics, and patrol missions. Due to its small size, ALPİN can be easily fitted into the hangars of existing naval platforms. The unmanned helicopter can be fitted with additional sensors like synthetic aperture radars, as exhibited in IDEF’23.
ALPİN might receive other design changes to serve onboard naval platforms, such as a more corrosion-resistant frame.
Another example of an unmanned helicopter that is used onboard naval platforms is the American MQ-8C Fire Scout, based on the Bell 407 helicopter.
ALPİN has an endurance of nine hours and a payload capacity of 200 kg. While the current mission profile consists of logistics and surveillance, communications relay and close air support are planned for the near future.
ALPİN Unmanned Helicopter to Go, Naval
