Unmanned Rules at Turkish Defense Show

Submitted by tatwood on Tue, 08/15/2023 - 21:06

The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) Foundation has organized the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) every two years, since 1993.  As reported by Breakingdefense.com, the latest IDEF was Tuesday, July 25 – Friday, July 28, in Istanbul, where a multitude of unmanned systems were exhibited.  Demand for underwater technology is growing and of note were new developments in remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).  Havelsan unveiled a mockup of its one-way unmanned submersible called the Caka. The suicide unmanned submarine is 8.5 meters long, with a speed of 60-plus knots and a beam of 3.3 meters. Company officials said that Caka testing will start by September this year and is expected to be operational within two years. Also, Turkish defense industry firm STM announced plans to develop an autonomous unmanned submarine, with an option of future swarming capability. STM general manager Ozgur Guleryuz said, “STM have been dealing with submarines for quite a long time, we are building submarines we are modernizing submarines…” He indicated that the development phase is expected to be finalized by the second half of 2024, leading to a prototype “which will work for proof of concept for full autonomy.”  Next to Havelsan’s stand was Turkish missile producer Roketsan, debuting its first naval missile defense system, the Levent. It can carry up to 11 missiles and is mounted with four radars. The company officials at its stand told Breaking Defense that the display system is an actual system and not a mockup, and that the system will be operational in the next two years. Photos by Agnes Helou / Breaking Defense.


Our thanks to CDR David Place (USN/Ret), davidplace47[at]gmail[dot]com, for his assistance with this report, the background for which appeared in David’s # 23 - 10 - 3 AUGUST 2023 edition of the UNMANNED SYSTEMS NEWS (USN). David distributes the USN, a free, comprehensive newsletter in PDF format every three to four weeks as well as serial news flashes, from which this NREF news update was sourced. To be included in his distribution, simply send a subscribe request to davidplace47[at]gmail[dot]com.