Petlas develops aircraft tires for unmanned warplane
16 Jan 2023
Share:
Made with local technology, tires are part of defence project for unmanned combat aerial vehicles
Ankara, Turkey – Turkish tire-maker Petlas has developed aircraft tires for unmanned warplanes to expand its military offerings.
The tires, said Petlas, are currently being used by Turkish defence company Bayraktar for a number of projects for the manufacture unmanned aerial combat vehicles.
Made with local technology, the tires have been fitted as original equipment on Bayraktra’s Kizilelma jet-powered aircraft, which will be developed into a supersonic jet in its future versions.
Petlas said the speciality tires went through a number of rigourous tests and met quality criteria set for the defence industry.
“It was determined that the tires produced by Petlas are of much higher quality than the tires produced abroad for the defence industry,” said Safa Özcan of Petlas parent company AKO Group.
Petlas operates a single production factory in Kirsehir, Turkey, where it has the capacity to produce 11 million tires per year.
The plant, claimed to be “Europe’s largest in terms of square metres", manufactures a variety of tires, including passenger car, trucks & bus, off-road and aircraft tires, in 2,500 sizes.
This article is only available to subscribers - subscribe today
Subscribe for unlimited access. A subscription to European Rubber Journal includes:
Every issue of European Rubber Journal (6 issues) including Special Reports & Maps.
Unlimited access to ERJ articles online
Daily email newsletter – the latest news direct to your inbox