Turkish defense firm Havelsan counts days for ‘digital troops’

The “digital troops” concept, which will serve with unmanned aerial, land, and sea vehicles developed within the Turkish defense industry, will take to the field this year, according to the developer company.

Unmanned aerial, land, and underwater swarms, new-generation wearable military technologies combined with command-and-control centers make up the digital troops.

Havelsan, which has been working on the “herd operation capability” that enables unmanned vehicles to work together, aims to cross a critical threshold with this development.

Having introduced the concept of “digital troop” for the first time at the 15th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF 2021), Havelsan plans to bring the unit, which includes unmanned vehicles that have reached a certain maturity, to the field.

Mehmet Akif Nacar, the General Manager of Havelsan, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that there had been a growing interest in unmanned land, air, and sea vehicles.

He said that Havelsan has been working on several infrastructure-related projects with its team members to facilitate the field activities of the digital troops. He said they would begin demonstrations in 2023 and that the components required for the project are gradually becoming ready.

Nacar expressed his excitement at seeing how Barkan, Baha, and Sancar – their unmanned platforms – will work as part of the digital troop.

Nacar said that the company had developed various products to facilitate digital coexistence and has improved over time.

He also provided an update on the unmanned land vehicle, Barkan, saying: “The Barkan has been tested in the field for two years and has been updated to meet the expected needs. The Barkan-2 has emerged, with new features added to the product. For example, the vehicle we presented at SAHA Expo had a 12.7-millimeter weapon system, whereas previously, it only had 7.62 weapons. The relevant design work has been completed, and production is currently underway.”

“A small number of vehicles will be put into an inventor. Based on the test results, we will soon begin mass production. We expect beginning mass production in the first half of 2023. Currently, Barkans are being used for testing,” he added.

Furthermore, Havelsan conducts test and platform improvement studies for the medium class-2 unmanned land vehicle – Kapgan.

Being one of the largest and leading technology companies in Türkiye, Havelsan is mainly active in defense, simulation, information and communication, homeland security and cyber security.