A drone designed to launch other drones was tested in Turkey
The Turkish ANKA III strike drone is gradually transitioning to a higher level of autonomy. TUSAŞ has released footage of its flight, showing the drone in a “flying wing” configuration flying alongside two jet-powered UAVs mounted under its wings.
This flight demonstrates the capabilities of the air-launch concept, which has the potential to significantly expand the ANKA III’s functionality. The large drone can serve as a carrier for smaller autonomous aircraft, delivering them to high-risk areas. Once deployed, such systems can be used for reconnaissance and surveillance, electronic warfare, or strike missions.
This latest flight builds on previous development of the ANKA III. Turkish Aerospace has already demonstrated a drone carrying two SÜPER ŞİMŞEK units at the SAHA Expo 2026. On April 8, 2025, the ANKA III also launched a SÜPER ŞİMŞEK during a flight at an altitude of approximately 10,130 feet and a speed of 150 knots. The demonstration shows that the system for carrying two aircraft has been successfully tested in flight. The ANKA III can transport smaller UAVs and deploy them at a selected point, providing them with altitude and speed before they begin their own missions.
TUSAŞ describes the ANKA III as a turbofan-powered unmanned aerial vehicle capable of climbing to an altitude of up to 12,000 meters, reach a maximum speed of 0.7 Mach (790 km/h) at an altitude of 9,000 meters, and remain airborne for up to 10 hours. It can perform reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and communications relay, and can operate with both manned and unmanned teams.
This is reported by Interesting Engineering.
As a reminder, Uber Technologies and Zipline have agreed to launch autonomous delivery of Uber Eats orders using drones in the U.S. The first such deliveries are scheduled to begin by the end of 2026.
The Ukrainian company BlueBird Tech has unveiled the “Bebradrone-M”—an airframe-type drone designed to train pilots and operators of interceptor drones.
