Angola has ordered Aksungur medium-altitude, long endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), becoming the first confirmed African nation to do so.
Production of the aircraft has started, according to TAI (TUSAS) General Manager for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Omer Yildiz. In an interview with CNN Turk that was reported by SavunmaSanayiST, he said the Aksungur has been sold to export customers Kyrgyzstan and Angola but deliveries have not yet begun.
Yildiz revealed that eight Aksungur UAVs have been manufactured so far, and another six are on the production line, and the rate of production is increasing from one every three months to one a month.
The Angolan deal appears to go back to 2021 when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in October that year Angola had asked to acquire Turkish UAVs and armoured personnel carriers following an earlier visit by Angolan President Joao Lourenco to Turkey. In October 2022, the Angolan government approved a $93 million contract with Turkish Aerospace Industries for UAVs, with the acquisition moving through Angolan public corporation Simportex.