Türkiye develops underwater mine-clearing drone

The first mission of an unmanned underwater vehicle, developed by the Turkish STM Savunma Teknolojileri Muhendislik ve Ticaret AS, will be detection and mine clearance.

STM has presented its UAV systems and naval platforms at the TEKNOFEST world's biggest aviation, space and technology festival, which is being held in Ankara.

In a conversation with Anadolu, STM CEO Ozgur Guleryuz said that the work related to the unmanned underwater autonomous vehicle announced within IDEF-23 is being rapidly carried out.

He added that the prototype of the device will be presented at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

“Our goal in the first stage is to develop an unmanned autonomous underwater vehicle that can be used to detect and destroy mines. The prototype is expected to be ready no later than early 2024,” Guleryuz said.

While speaking about the project of the STM500 first small-sized domestic submarine, the CEO said that the company plans to hold an important presentation related to the project soon.

“STM500 is the project that inspires the company's developers most of all. This is the project, which our country will be proud of and which will be the first step towards a `national submarine’. We believe that thanks to the step-by-step actions in this sphere, our country will enter the top few countries in the world. The work is intensively carried out. The construction of a submarine is not anything that can be done in a few months, it is a product that you produce for the first time,” he said.

The festival is being held at the Etimesgut airport in Ankara from August 30 till September 3. TEKNOFEST has been organised by the Turkish Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation) and the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology.