Turkish defence company to unveil new AVISTA underwater vehicle

Turkish defence company HAVELSAN will unveil its newly developed AVISTA underwater vehicle for the first time at the TEKNOFEST Mavi Vatan exhibition, with the project aimed at enhancing underwater positioning, mapping and control capabilities.

HAVELSAN, which has gained experience in autonomous unmanned surface vehicles through projects such as SANCAR and RAFNAR, is expanding its work in underwater technologies with AVISTA, Caliber.Az reports, citing SavunmaSanayiST.

AVISTA is currently at the research and development stage. The vehicle is being developed for high-precision positioning and three-dimensional mapping in underwater environments where GNSS is unavailable. The project also aims to establish domestic capabilities for ship-hull inspections, protection of critical underwater infrastructure and comprehensive security.

The AVISTA project was launched partly due to the high cost of underwater sensors and customs restrictions affecting their supply. HAVELSAN plans to use affordable, cost-effective sensors while developing algorithms to provide platforms with intelligent capabilities.

The technologies developed under the project will also be directly applied to the ÇAKA (H-İDA) hybrid unmanned surface vehicle, which is capable of diving underwater.

HAVELSAN is using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) with six degrees of freedom as the platform for AVISTA’s development and testing.

Because AVISTA is being developed using platform-independent algorithms and software architecture, the vehicle is expected to be integrated with various underwater platforms in the future. It is also planned to be compatible with the ADVENT combat management system.

AVISTA features a range of capabilities, including underwater positioning, mapping, ship-hull inspection and the creation of navigation corridors.

The system could be used in underwater search-and-rescue operations, accident investigations, inspections of underwater infrastructure and energy facilities, as well as for securing ports and various other facilities.

Sea trials of AVISTA are said to begin soon. Technologies developed during the trials could expand the capabilities of the ADVENT MÜREN combat management system in areas including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, mine countermeasures and seabed operations.

HAVELSAN aims to have its new underwater technology products and solutions ready for operational use in 2027.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov