Turkey set to embark on mass production of unmanned ground vehicles

The Turkish defence industry is set to start the mass production of lightweight, medium and heavy-class unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in the near future.

The announcement was made during a ceremony on UGVs and military robotic technology, which took place at local defence company FNSS's facility in Ankara on Tuesday.

Several agreements were signed at the ceremony, which was attended by Ismail Demir, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), and representatives from prominent Turkish defence industry firms, including Aselsan, Havelsan and Katmerciler.

The SSB and Havelsan signed an agreement on the development of a heavy class UGV, and the “Declaration of Intent on Mass Production of Medium-Class UGV” was also signed between Aselsan, Best Group, Elektroland and Havelsan.

“With the success we have achieved in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), it is obvious that it is necessary to introduce a similar system for land, sea and even submarine vehicles, even to move toward multirole unmanned vehicles and to work directly with robotic systems,” Demir told the gathering.

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Experiments underway

UGVs of various sizes and capacities were already delivered to the field as experiments and prototypes, Demir added.

He pointed out that the use of UGVs will increase with the rapid development of the technology and the benefits it will create in the future.

“Meeting multiple operational needs will only be possible with the integration and interoperability of such systems,” Demir said. 

“Our aim in battle is for our forces to have an opportunity to intimidate their opponents and defeat them, to have a structure that sees without being seen, senses without being sensed and strikes without being hit,” the defence official said.

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