Aselsan has made significant progress in the development and production of “drone gunboats” and “unmanned anti-submarine warfare boats”.
The boats produced will be armed with missile systems produced by the Turkish company Roketsan, and the fixed machine gun system of Aselsan, to carry out missions
The boats operate autonomously and have the ability to navigate safely by processing images and learning about the surrounding environment

Turkey’s Defense Industries Corporation (ASELSAN) has started building the first version of the unmanned boats in order to contribute to the security of Turkish territorial waters.

Recently, Aselsan, in cooperation with the Sefine Tersanesi shipyard in the northwestern Turkish state of Yalova, made great progress in the development and production of “drone gunboats” and “unmanned anti-submarine warfare boats.”

Aselsan continues to build the aforementioned drone boats within the framework of a project aimed at developing and producing unmanned marine boats that contribute to the monitoring and protection of territorial waters.

After the design work was completed, the company started the construction process and the interspersed sheet metal cutting to build anti-submarine warfare boats.

It is scheduled that the unmanned boats will be launched in the near future, after passing various tests that will take place in sea waters to ensure they are ready for use by the end of the year.

The unmanned boats are planned to be able to reach speeds of more than 40 knots (74 kph), be highly maneuverable, operate for approximately 4 days without resupplying at a range of 600 nautical miles, and perform optimal navigational missions even in The most difficult marine conditions.

These boats will allow the tactical missile system of the Turkish company ROKETSAN and the stationary machine gun system of ASELSAN to carry out combat missions, ensuring the independent protection of bases, ports, vital facilities and floating platforms.

Dorson Ali Semen, Director of Warfare Systems at Military Projects at the Safina Shipyard, said they have started developing unmanned naval vessels as of 2019.

Semen told Anadolu Agency that they had developed the unmanned sea boats in cooperation with the Turkish company Aselsan for Defense Industries, as part of a joint project to produce unmanned sea boats.

Semen stated that the design and production of the boats, of which they have already begun to produce the prototype, is being carried out entirely in the shipyards of the “Safina” company.

He added, “The construction of the steel structure has been completed, and the programs and systems for fully-managed boats have been developed using local capabilities and expertise.”

And he added: “The produced boats will be armed with a missile system produced by the Turkish company Roketsan and the fixed machine gun system of Aselsan, to carry out combat missions that ensure independent protection of bases, ports, vital facilities and floating platforms.”

Semen stressed that his company is making every effort to develop and produce unmanned marine boats that effectively contribute to providing security in Turkish territorial waters.

He stated that the project implemented by his company and Aselsan Company would contribute to the development of the marine boat sector and increase Turkey’s dependence on its national industries in this field.

He pointed out that his company and Aselsan are working on building two types of unmanned boats: “drone gunboats” and “unmanned anti-submarine war boats.”

He continued, “These sea vessels operate autonomously and have the ability to navigate safely by processing images, identifying the surrounding environment and processing data provided by navigation radars and photoelectric cameras.”

Semen pointed out that the aforementioned boats can be used to protect sensitive bases, ports and residential centers, and to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance operations. These boats can also be controlled through an operations room in a ground station.

He added, “It will be possible to use these drones to protect vital ports from submarines. Our company plans to complete the cruise tests and prepare the boats at the end of 2021.”

Semen concluded that his company seeks to make its products a model that shows the extent of Turkey’s development in the field of unmanned marine boats.

Anatolia