Turkish Future Fighter Unveiled

Photo: ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

Another first for Le Bourget was the unveiling of a full-scale mockup of Turkey’s future fighter, TFX.

President and CEO of Turkish Aerospace Prof. Temel Kotil said: “We moved Turkey’s most important project, which we conduct with pride, to the higher point. We will do what few countries worldwide do. 

We exhibit the Turkish Fighter for the first time in Paris in order to show our capabilities. 

Thus, Turkey will demonstrate that there is no difference from other countries from the point of view of technological infrastructure. At Turkish Aerospace we aspire to fulfil Turkey’s first achievements in disciplined and concentrated ways.”

The shape of the new aircraft resembled models seen at previous defence shows as well as concepts already published in brochures. 

The twin-engine 14 metre wingspan, 21m long TFX with twin vertical tails surfaces canted outwards was more F-22 than FCAS or Tempest. The low-observable configuration features an internal weapons bay.

With a designed maximum speed of Mach 2, a service ceiling of 17,000m (55,000ft), and a combat range of 1,111km (690 miles), TFX is being designed as a multirole fighter, capable of air superiority missions and long-range stand-off attack missions as well as operating with unmanned wingman platforms.

Despite the country’s financial pressures, TFX remains a priority defence programme although the powerplants have yet to be selected. 

Both Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems have been involved in the project but their future input in the design and development of Turkey’s ambitious 5th generation fighter remains unclear.

SOURCE: ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

Mercedes-Benz Uses Location Tracking for Car Repossession

Photo: PCMAG

Mercedes-Benz is using an unorthodox approach to making sure customers keep up on their car payments: tracking vehicle location in the event it needs to be repossessed.

According to UK newspaper The Sun, Mercedes-Benz has been fitting sensors inside new and used vehicles, which can pinpoint their exact whereabouts. That information can then be shared with bailiffs and third-party recovery firms.

Mercedes-Benz, which is owned by Daimler AG, hasn't gone into details about the location sensors. Nevertheless, the automaker said tracking can occur in rare circumstances after a customer agrees to finance a car through Mercedes-Benz's financial services.

"In this case, they sign a contract and agree to the use of the car's location in the event they default or breach their finance agreement," a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson told PCMag. In addition, all customers are made aware of the repossession process and how location tracking can be involved.

"This repossession process is used in a few exceptional cases and only as a last resort, when customers default or breach their finance agreement and repeatedly fail requests to return their vehicle," the spokesperson said. "We also want to emphasize that this does not mean constant tracking."

Still, it raises some questions about potential surveillance of customers. So far, Mercedes-Benz hasn't elaborated on whether all company cars have been fitted with the tracking technology. 

But the automaker's spokesperson and the brand's privacy policies do note that Mercedes-Benz will collect customers' vehicle location to power certain features like navigation or emergency services.

"We place great importance on the responsible and transparent use of customer data. The customer determines which services he wants to use and which data he wants to pass on —either by consent, by contract or at the push of a button," the automaker's spokesperson said.

According to Mercedes-Benz's privacy policies, you can opt out of the tracking, but it requires contacting the automaker or deactivating the affected services.

SOURCE: PCMAG

Kereta Terbang Pertama Dunia Dari Belanda

FOTO: PAL V LIBERTY

BILA disebut mengenai kereta terbang, pastinya ramai akan menganggap ia adalah satu perkara yang mustahil.

Mana tidaknya, ia sememangnya tidak pernah wujud sebelum ini, malah dilihat seperti tidak relevan untuk mempunyai kenderaan seperti itu bagi kegunaan ramai.

Bagaimanapun, inisiatif membina kereta terbang pertama di dunia sudah pun direalisasikan oleh sebuah syarikat dari Belanda iaitu PAL-V apabila mereka buat julung kali mempamerkan kenderaan unik itu sempena Pameran Motor Antarbangsa Geneva 2019 (GIMS 2019), baru-baru ini.

Menurut PAL-V, syarikat itu mula membangunkan kereta terbang terbabit sejak 2008 sebelum melaksanakan proses ujian memandu dan menerbang gyroplane itu pada 2012.

Dihasilkan sepenuhnya dari Belanda

"Dinamakan sebagai PAL-V Liberty, ia adalah produk yang dihasilkan sepenuhnya dari Belanda.

"Membangunkan sebuah kereta terbang sememangnya mengambil masa yang lama. Bukan saja kami perlu memikirkan mengenai pembinaannya malah perlu mengadakan perbincangan berterusan dengan kerajaan (Belanda) dan Kesatuan Eropah (EU) bagi mewujudkan garis panduan dan undang-undang khusus untuk menerbangkan kenderaan ini.

"Tujuan kami membangunkan produk ini adalah bagi menawarkan kelainan. Sekiranya anda bosan memandu dan inginkan sebuah jentera yang boleh terbang serta ingin mendarat di depan rumah, kenderaan ini pastinya memenuhi kriteria itu," katanya kepada BH Auto.

Menurut syarikat itu, model yang ditayangkan pada GIMS 2019 adalah edisi terhad dinamakan sebagai PAL-V Liberty Pioneer.

"Versi ini yang terdiri daripada 90 unit saja dibangunkan berdasarkan model asal, PAL-V Liberty, yang mana ia mula diperkenalkan sejak GIMS tahun lalu.

"Ia dilengkapi kokpit dwi kawalan dan sistem instrumen penerbangan elektronik. Kemasan karbon dan dua tona warna yang terdapat pada model ini membezakannya daripada model standard Liberty," katanya.

Seberat 664 kilogram

Melihat kepada spesifikasi, kereta terbang itu adalah seberat 664 kilogram dan ia hanya mampu membawa dua orang termasuk pemandu/juruterbang.

Kenderaan itu mengambil masa kira-kira tiga hingga lima minit untuk pertukaran mod pemanduan ke mod terbang atau sebaliknya.

Pada mod pemanduan, ukuran kenderaan itu adalah sepanjang empat meter, dua meter lebar dan 1.7 meter tinggi. Sebaik bertukar kepada mod terbang, ia menjadi 6.1 meter panjang, dan ketinggian bertambah kepada 3.2 meter selain mempunyai kipas rotor berdiameter 10.75 meter.

Apabila dipandu, ia mampu menghasilkan 100 kuasa kuda (hp) dengan jarak perjalanan 1,315 kilometer dengan mencatatkan kelajuan maksimum 160 kilometer sejam (km/j) serta melakukan pecutan 0 hingga 100 km/j kurang dari sembilan saat.

Bagi mod terbang pula, ia mampu mencatat jarak perjalanan 400 hingga 500km dengan mencapai kelajuan maksimum 180km/j. Kenderaan itu memerlukan jarak 180 meter untuk berlepas dan 30 untuk mendarat.

Ia juga mampu terbang ke paras ketinggian maksimum 3,500 meter serta mencatat kelajuan cruise 160km/j.

75 unit sudah dijual

Sementara itu, jurucakap PAL-V berkata, sebanyak 75 unit kenderaan itu sudah berjaya dijual dan penyerahan pertama akan dilaksanakan pada Disember tahun ini.

"Tempahan dibuka sejak 2018 dan pelanggan perlu memiliki lesen memandu dan lesen juruterbang untuk membeli kenderaan ini.

"Pelanggan yang membuat tempahan kereta terbang ini kebanyakannya adalah dari Eropah, diikuti Asia Barat dan China.

"Bagi memudahkan pelanggan, mereka perlu menghadiri program khusus oleh PAL-V yang mana kami akan terangkan mengenai garis panduan dan undang-undang yang perlu mereka patuhi selepas melakukan sebarang pembelian," katanya.

Info

*Harga: PAL-V Liberty (300,000 euro), PAL-V Liberty Pioneer (500,000 euro)

*Kapasiti: 2 orang

*Masa pertukaran: 3-5 minit

*Jarak pemanduan: 1,315km

*Jarak penerbangan: 400-500km

SUMBER: BH ONLINE

Defense Firm Unveils Turkey's 1st Flying Car Prototype

Photo: ANADOLU NEWS AGENCY

ISTANBUL | Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar's chief technology officer announced the prototype of a flying car on Tuesday, which if materialized could become the first-of-its kind in the country.

The company has been working on technical drawing, conceptual design, testing, detailing and producing the prototype for eight months, Selcuk Bayraktar tweeted.

The flying car, "Cezeri", is expected to complete this September and could be unveiled at Turkey’s largest aerospace and technology festival Teknofest.

Photo: ANADOLU NEWS AGENCY

The car is named after famous Muslim engineer Al Jazari, who lived between 1136 and 1206.

Bayraktar also started a survey to choose one of four different colors of the prototype.

Baykar, established in 1984, produces armed and non-armed drones, control systems, simulators and avionics systems.

SOURCE: Anadolu Agency

NEC's Passenger Drone Takes A Short Test Flight In Japan

PHOTO : ASSOCIATED PRESS

Japan is eager to become a leader in the passenger drone industry. NEC Corp nudged the nation a step closer to that goal Monday with a demo of a people-carrying quadcopter, which stayed in the air for about a minute. 

The company operated the flight inside a safety cage at a test facility in Abiko, a Tokyo suburb.

The battery-powered drone didn't actually have a passenger inside as it rose to a height of about 10 feet for a few moments before returning to the ground.

 It was the first demo of such a vehicle by a major Japanese corporation, according to Bloomberg. Its partner Cartivator aims to start mass production in 2026.

"Japan is a densely populated country and that means flying cars could greatly alleviate the burden on road traffic," Kouji Okada, who is among the project leads at NEC, told Bloomberg. "We are positioning ourselves as an enabler for air mobility, providing location data and building communications infrastructure for flying cars."

Under Japan's infrastructure plan, deliveries made by such drones are scheduled to start by 2023 or so. 

The government hopes to allow people to travel in the machines in the following decade. Venture capitalists in Japan meanwhile are investing in autonomous aircraft companies through their Drone Fund.



There's a long way to go to reach those goals though, with battery life, regulatory and safety hurdles to overcome. 

NEC's machine weighs about 150 kilograms, and is around 3.9 meters long, 3.7 meters wide and 1.3 meters tall. Add some bodies and that's a considerable mass to keep in the air safely for any length of time.

NEC isn't the only ones building autonomous flying vehicles, of course. The United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Singapore are hoping to make waves in the industry, while private companies like Uber, Volvo's parent company and Google co-founder Larry Page's Kitty Hawk are working on such machines too.

However, NEC and Cartivator might hold an advantage over rival businesses, thanks to the Japan government's support. Cartivator already has a permit for outdoor flights.

Source: Bloomberg

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 unveiled with SD 855, 7030mAh battery, DeX mode and more starting from ~RM2689

Photo: TECHNAVE.COM

Before Samsung unveils the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 next week, the company decided to reveal a new tablet from the Tab S series. Known as the Galaxy Tab S6, it was spotted from a new video on its YouTube channel but not the Malaysia website. Returning as a premium tablet with the S Pen stylus, let's see what are the new upgrades.

Starting with the exterior, the Galaxy Tab S6 has a big 10.5-inch AMOLED display (2560 x 1600 resolution) and measures 244.5 x 159.5 x 5.7mm. In comparison, this is actually thinner than the Apple iPad Pro (2018) which is already slim itself so that's quite impressive. 

Like the Galaxy Note 9, the S Pen will also have its own Bluetooth LE plus a new feature called Air Action which they didn't say what it was, but it sounds like the user can use gestures to command certain tasks.

As a new tablet, Samsung obviously took advantage by integrating Samsung DeX mode. It doesn't need an external monitor but relies on a Book Cover Keyboard (separate accessory). 

Oh, the S Pen is magnetic being able to stick on the back of the tablet in its own dock and has wireless charging. There are a total of four AKG speakers too and an in-display fingerprint sensor. However, the 3.5mm headphone jack is nowhere to be seen.


 Going into the tech specs, the Galaxy Tab S6 features an impressive Snapdragon 855, either 6GB + 128GB or 8GB + 256GB memory capacity (with an expandable memory of 1TB via microSD card), a dual 13MP + 5MP (ultra-wide lens) rear camera with a Neural Processing Unit for refining the photos. Lastly, the battery pack is 7040mAh and that's a lot!

The Galaxy Tab S6 is available in Mountain Gray, Cloud Blue and Rose Blush options with a starting price of $649 (~RM2689), while the higher variant is $729 (~RM3020). It will definitely appear at the upcoming UNPACKED event next week but we aren't sure if the Malaysia market will get a chance or not. Time will tell.


SOURCE: TechNave.com.