Kamikaze Drones Join Turkish Fleet

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Turkey is enhancing its unmanned aerial vehicle fleet with kamikaze drones. 30 upgraded KARGU (Autonomous Tactical Multi-Rotor Attack UAV) kamikaze drones will join the Turkish Armed Forces’ inventory as of 2020 to take part in critical operations in the country’s east and along the Syrian border. 

As a rotary-wing drone, the KARGU can carry various types of explosives, playing an efficient role in asymmetric warfare and the fight against terrorists.

The drones were developed by Turkish Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade. The KARGU battle drone, designed to support the tactical and field needs of Turkish security forces, eliminates targets more efficiently with new features such as enhanced ammo capacity and improved accuracy, according to dailysabah.com. 

The 30 drones will also have the capacity to destroy an entire brigade and warship.

STM General Director Murat Ikinci said the newest upgrade would take the Turkish military to the next level. Ikinci noted that while each drone within the squadron has a specific mission, “if one of them is attacked or malfunctions during the operation, the other KARGUs will be able to replace it and perform the preset mission.”

Stating that all the drones within the squadron have artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recognition systems, Ikinci elaborated on the drones’ properties: “The drones are less than 70 kilograms each. They can also carry explosives and various equipment. They have a range of 15 kilometers. They can stay in the air for 30 minutes with explosives.”

STM works on naval and air platforms, cyber-security, big data, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence.