Which African Countries Operate the TUSAS Anka and Aksungur Drones?

Two African air forces have a confirmed, in-service TUSAŞ Anka or Aksungur drone: Chad, which operates two Anka-S and at least one armed Aksungur, and Niger, which publicly unveiled an Aksungur unit in September 2025. Tunisia has taken delivery of up to five Anka-S aircraft since 2021 but has no confirmed operational deployment on record. Angola has a signed, government-approved Aksungur contract with no delivery confirmed. Nigeria’s air force listed 12 Aksungurs among its own “expected aircraft” in October 2026, and Algerian media have separately reported both an Anka-S and an Aksungur order, but none of these three has a confirmed contract or delivery.

Photo: A TAI/TUSAŞ Aksungur unmanned combat aerial vehicle on display at IDEF 2019 in Istanbul. This is a file photo of the type and does not show a Chadian, Nigerien or other African air force aircraft. Credit: CeeGee, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Direct answer

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI, now TUSAŞ) built the Anka as a medium-altitude, long-endurance reconnaissance drone and developed the larger, twin-engine Aksungur from it as a heavier-payload armed derivative. In Africa, two countries have a confirmed, documented fleet: Chad, which received two Anka-S aircraft in July 2023 and revealed at least one armed Aksungur flying from N’Djamena in April 2024, and Niger, which publicly unveiled an Aksungur at a ceremony in Niamey on 29 September 2025. Tunisia has received Anka-S aircraft in stages since 2021, with a TAI executive citing five delivered by 2023, but no source reviewed documents an operational deployment, so it is tracked here as delivered rather than operational. Angola has a $93 million, government-approved Aksungur contract dating to October 2022, with no delivery confirmed since. Nigeria’s air force named 12 Aksungurs among its own list of “expected aircraft” in an October 2026 infographic, without naming a contract date or value, and Algerian media have reported both a 10-unit Anka-S order and a separate six-unit Aksungur order, neither officially confirmed by Algiers, Ankara or TUSAŞ.

This page tracks the Anka family (including the Anka-S variant) and the Aksungur specifically. Chad’s acquisition is covered in more depth, including its stated requirement and training programme, on DefenceMENA’s dedicated Why Chad Bought Anka and Aksungur Drones. Nigeria’s “expected aircraft” infographic, including its Aksungur and T129 ATAK entries, is covered on DefenceMENA’s Nigerian Air Force Aksungur Drones and T129 report. Other Turkish drone types in African service, including the Bayraktar TB2 and Akıncı, and the T129 ATAK attack helicopter, are tracked on their own dedicated pages; see Related alternatives below.

Quick operator table

Map: status by country

Each country is coloured by the highest verified status of its Anka or Aksungur holdings.

Confirmed operators

• Chad. N’Djamena bought the Anka-S and Aksungur, alongside three Hürkuş-C light attack aircraft, to cover armed surveillance over Lake Chad, the Libyan frontier and the Sudanese border, three fronts its existing fleet could not reach. TUSAŞ delivered two Anka-S aircraft, unveiled at a ceremony at Adji Kosseï air base in July 2023; Janes reported the Chadian Air Force had revealed at least one Aksungur flying armed from N’Djamena in April 2024, making Chad the first African air force documented operating the type. Chadian crews and roughly 20 engineers trained at TUSAŞ facilities in Türkiye. Full procurement account and sourcing: Why Chad Bought Anka and Aksungur Drones.
• Niger. Niger’s Ministry of National Defense, led by Minister of State for Defense General Salifou Mody, publicly unveiled an Aksungur at a ceremony at Niamey International Airport on 29 September 2025. Army Recognition reported twelve Nigerien military personnel had trained in Türkiye on the type, and that the aircraft carries ROKETSAN MAM-L and MAM-C guided munitions and L-UMTAS anti-tank missiles. No public figure for the number of airframes delivered has been published. Niger already operated Bayraktar TB2 drones, delivered in 2022; the Aksungur is a separate, heavier-payload addition to that fleet.

Ordered / awaiting delivery

• Angola – Aksungur (under contract, not delivered). President Erdoğan said in October 2021 that Angola had asked to buy Turkish UAVs and armoured vehicles. The Angolan government approved a reported $93 million TAI contract in October 2022, run through the state import corporation Simportex. A March 2023 defenceWeb report, citing TAI’s UAV general manager, said Angola’s Aksungur order was confirmed but deliveries had not yet begun; no later delivery report was found.

Reported but unconfirmed

• Tunisia – operational status (DELIVERED, not confirmed OPERATIONAL). Tunisia signed its original Anka-S contract in January 2020, backed by Turkish Eximbank financing, then reversed an initial lapse and took delivery of its first aircraft around September 2021. Further airframes arrived in 2022 and June 2023, with a TAI executive statement cited by Overt Defense putting the cumulative total at five. No official Tunisian statement, defence-press report or satellite/parade evidence reviewed documents the Anka-S flying an operational mission, so this article does not classify Tunisia as Operational.
• Nigeria – Aksungur (RUMOURED / PROPOSED). The Nigerian Air Force’s own 25 October 2026 infographic, marking Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke’s first year in office, listed 12 Aksungur UCAVs among “additional expected aircraft.” The NAF gave no contract date, value or delivery schedule, and neither TUSAŞ nor Türkiye’s Presidency of Defence Industries had commented as of the report. This is an official source naming the NAF’s own intent, not a confirmed signed contract, so it is kept out of the Ordered table above.
• Algeria – Anka-S and Aksungur (RUMOURED). Middle East Eye reported, citing two sources familiar with the negotiations, that Algeria had agreed to buy 10 Anka-S drones, describing the deal as awaiting formal approval. Separately, defenceWeb’s March 2023 Angola report noted that Algerian media had reported in October 2022 that Algeria would acquire six Aksungur aircraft, while stating plainly that this had not been officially confirmed by any party. No contract, delivery or further confirmation of either Algerian order was found.

Retired

No African country has retired an Anka or Aksungur; both types remain recent additions to the continent’s drone inventories.

Quantity conflicts

• Chad, institutional attribution. Janes attributes Chad’s Aksungur to the Chadian Air Force; a separate Overt Defense report attributes the same acquisition to the Chad National Army. This article follows Janes and DefenceMENA’s dedicated Chad page, which treat it as an air force asset, while noting the discrepancy.
• Tunisia, original order size. Sources disagree on the scale of Tunisia’s original 2020 contract: one report describes six Anka-S air vehicles with three ground control stations, another describes three systems of two air vehicles and one control centre each (also six air vehicles, differently structured). Neither figure is treated here as more authoritative; the delivered total of five rests on a single TAI executive statement relayed by Overt Defense and has not been independently corroborated by an official Tunisian source.
• Angola vs Algeria, “first export customer” claim. defenceWeb’s March 2023 report describes Angola as “the first confirmed African nation” to order the Aksungur, based on its government-approved contract; a separate military.africa report elsewhere describes Algeria as TAI’s first Aksungur export customer. The two claims do not reconcile, and this article does not resolve which, if either, is correct – both Angola’s and Algeria’s Aksungur orders are treated as reported rather than ranked.
• Countries checked with no evidence found. No independently sourced Anka or Aksungur order, evaluation or delivery could be confirmed for Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo or any other African state beyond the six listed above.

Procurement history

TAI developed the Anka as Türkiye’s first indigenous medium-altitude, long-endurance drone, entering Turkish service in the mid-2010s before TAI offered an export-configured Anka-S with a satellite data-link to several African and Gulf customers. Tunisia was an early adopter, signing in January 2020 before funding problems delayed the deal; Chad and Algeria were both reported in February 2023 to have chosen the Anka-S, part of a wider pattern of Turkish arms sales reaching north and central Africa documented on DefenceMENA’s overview of Turkish defence companies active in Africa. TAI later developed the larger, twin-engine Aksungur from the Anka programme as a heavier-payload armed derivative, and has since reported Aksungur interest or orders from Angola (2022), Algeria (reported 2022), Kyrgyzstan (non-African) and Nigeria (named in a 2026 “expected aircraft” list), while Chad and Niger have become the type’s first two documented African operators. The Aksungur has itself continued to evolve: Turkish trade press has reported trials pairing it with newer Turkish-made munitions, a development that falls outside any confirmed African delivery and is not reflected in this operator table.

Variants

• Anka / Anka-S. The baseline Anka is a single-engine, propeller-driven ISR drone; the Anka-S export variant adds a satellite communications link for beyond-line-of-sight control and, on some customers’ aircraft, a strike capability using Roketsan MAM-series guided munitions. Tunisia’s and Chad’s delivered aircraft are this Anka-S standard.
• Aksungur. A larger, twin-engine derivative of the Anka family, with a published payload above 750 kg and endurance TUSAŞ quotes at up to 50 hours, roughly triple the payload and double the endurance TAI attributes to the smaller Bayraktar TB2. It has flown armed with Roketsan MAM-L and MAM-C munitions, L-UMTAS anti-tank missiles and Cirit laser-guided rockets in Chadian and Nigerien service. TUSAŞ’s own description of the Anka programme, including its development history, is covered in more technical depth by the Turkish sister publication Envanter Medya’s overview of the TUSAŞ Anka.

African operational context

The Anka and Aksungur sit alongside, rather than replace, the Bayraktar TB2 as the main Turkish drone types reaching African air forces: Chad and Niger both operate TB2s as well as Aksungurs, using the larger type for heavier strikes and longer-endurance missions the TB2 cannot sustain. Both confirmed operators face multi-front insurgencies – Chad against Boko Haram and ISWAP around Lake Chad, cross-border instability from Libya and Sudan, and Niger against jihadist groups in the Tillabéri and Diffa regions – that reward an armed ISR platform able to range hundreds of kilometres from the capital. DefenceMENA’s wider survey of military drones operated across Africa sets this pattern in context: Chinese Wing Loong and CH-4 types, and Turkish Bayraktar TB2 and Akıncı drones, remain far more numerous on the continent than the heavier, costlier Anka and Aksungur, which so far have reached only a handful of states with the budget and the specific long-range requirement to justify them.

Related alternatives

For Chad’s full procurement account, including its stated requirement, training programme and known alternatives considered, see Why Chad Bought Anka and Aksungur Drones. For Nigeria’s October 2026 “expected aircraft” infographic and what it does and does not confirm, see Nigerian Air Force Aksungur Drones and T129 “Expected Aircraft”. For the TUSAŞ attack helicopter these same air forces increasingly pair with armed drones, see Which African Countries Operate the T129 ATAK Attack Helicopter?, and for the wider Turkish, Chinese and other drone types in African service, see Military Drones Operated Across Africa in 2026.

FAQ

Which African countries operate the TUSAŞ Anka or Aksungur drone?

Chad and Niger have confirmed, operational fleets. Tunisia has taken delivery of Anka-S aircraft but has no confirmed operational deployment. Angola has a signed Aksungur contract with no delivery confirmed. Nigeria and Algeria have reported but unconfirmed Aksungur or Anka-S interest.

Does Chad have armed drones?

Yes. Chad operates two Anka-S aircraft, delivered in July 2023, and at least one Aksungur, revealed flying armed with Roketsan MAM-L munitions from N’Djamena in April 2024, alongside Bayraktar TB2s and Hürkuş-C light attack aircraft.

Has Nigeria actually bought the Aksungur?

Not confirmed. The Nigerian Air Force listed 12 Aksungurs among “additional expected aircraft” in an official 25 October 2026 infographic, but gave no contract date or value, and no independent confirmation of a signed deal has been found.

What is the difference between the Anka and the Aksungur?

The Anka is TAI’s original single-engine ISR drone; the export Anka-S variant adds a satellite data-link and, for some customers, strike capability. The Aksungur is a larger, twin-engine derivative with roughly triple the payload and double the endurance TAI attributes to the Bayraktar TB2, and has flown armed in Chadian and Nigerien service.

Is Tunisia’s Anka-S drone operational?

Tunisia has received Anka-S aircraft in stages since 2021, with a TAI executive citing a cumulative total of five by 2023, but no source reviewed documents the aircraft flying an operational mission, so this article tracks Tunisia as delivered rather than operational.

Sources

• DefenceMENA – Why Chad Bought Anka and Aksungur Drones
• DefenceMENA – Nigerian Air Force Aksungur Drones and T129 “Expected Aircraft”
• Janes – Chadian Air Force Unveils Aksungur UAV
• Hürriyet Daily News – Chad Receives New Aircraft, UAVs From Türkiye
• Army Recognition – Niger Rolls Out Turkish Aksungur Drone to Expand Border Defense and Strike Power
• Overt Defense – The Tunisian Air Force Receives 2 Additional ANKA UAVs From TAI
• defenceWeb – Angola Getting Aksungur UAVs From Turkey
• Middle East Eye – Algeria, Turkey Anka Drones Deal Nears
• DefenceMENA – Turkish Defence Companies Active in Africa in 2026

Method: operator status was checked against Janes, defence-press coverage (Army Recognition, Overt Defense, defenceWeb, Hürriyet Daily News, Middle East Eye) and DefenceMENA’s own dedicated Chad and Nigeria pages; single-source, press-only and anonymously sourced claims, including Nigeria’s and Algeria’s reported interest, are marked accordingly and kept out of the confirmed and ordered counts. Wikipedia and GlobalFirepower were not used to source any figure in this article.

Last updated: 1 November 2026