Baykar announced the graduation of Saudi Air Force operators from the 21st training programme for AKINCI UCAV on social media, showing RSAF AKINCIs as well.
Commander of the Turkish Air Force General Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu, and Commander of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) H.R.H. Lt Gen. Turki Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, attended the graduation ceremony for RSAF’s AKINCI operators.
Saudi Arabia signed a contract worth more than $3 billion for AKINCI UCAVs to serve in the RSAF and RSNF, which is one of the largest export contracts that the Turkish defence industry has achieved.
UAV-230 and TOLUN for Saudi Arabia?
Two AKINCI UCAVs without roundels but with their weaponry were also present at the ceremony. It is seen that one of them is loaded with UAV-230 aeroballistic missiles, TOLUN SDBs, and MAM smart munitions. It is believed that these UCAVs are to be delivered to Saudi Arabia. Thus, they also give an idea of what weaponry the RSAF will use.
It would not be a surprise to see higher-end munitions like UAV-230 and TOLUN in Saudi service, as both munitions are known to be exported. The timing of the two munitions’ export announcements being shortly after the signing of AKINCI’s export contract, further supports this possibility.
UAV-230 is ROKETSAN’s first aeroballistic missile, developed from the TRG-230 230 mm artillery rocket. The missile, using a GNSS/INS guidance package in baseline configuration (Laser seeker is in development), has been tested to a range of 155 km from AKINCI UCAV. Simplicity and high speed render UAV-230 an affordable stand-off weapon with quick results for AKINCI UCAV.
TOLUN is a GNSS/INS-guided small-diameter bomb designed for multi-carriage and structure penetration. The bomb can be dropped from AKINCI UCAV using the SADAK-4T smart rack (Central hardpoint only) or from wing hardpoints. TOLUN was tested at a range of 65+ km from AKINCI UCAV on a sea target. In addition to baseline TOLUN, TOLUN-F with a fragmentation warhead for area effect against exposed targets and TOLUN-IIR with man-in-the-loop capabilities thanks to the IIR seeker, are also available to AKINCI.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor:Özgür Ekşi
