Turkish advanced multifunctional UAV testing flight by month's end

By Goksel Yildirim

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey will soon have a state-of-the-art multifunctional unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) testing flight, which can be utilized as a self-defense deterrent against drones or used in an assault, said a senior official of a Turkish manufacturing company.

Guray Ali Canli, a member of the executive board of Transvaro, which manufactured Fedai, told Anadolu Agency that the device has a protection system developed to stop UAV/drone attacks, but the vehicle itself can be used for an attack in the future if needed.

He said their primary goal is to shoot down armed drones and UAVs, but by changing the warhead, Fedai can also be used as an anti-tank, anti-personnel defense system, or a vehicle capable of attacking itself.

“The wing and follower tracking mechanism structure of the Fedai is different from all other products,” Canli explained, adding that when the threat approaches, it explodes on the target with its own optical search system.

They will demonstrate shooting down a real drone at the end of the month, the Transvaro official informed, and added that the UAV is developed entirely by Turkish engineers.

He noted that due to the rapid development of such unmanned systems in recent years, it has become difficult to stop autonomous and swarm attack drones.

“Small UAVs can have a huge effect today. Many methods have been developed to bring them down, but the most effective is to shoot them in the air. Many studies have started in the world on this subject, from the Far East to the US and Europe. We also examined these studies,” he said while explaining how the idea of having Fedai for the country's self-defense came about.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar