Turkish defense industry’s new ‘national eye’ gimbal Aggoz empowers UAVs

By Goksel Yildirim and Emir Yildirim

ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish defense industry’s new gimbal system, “Aggoz,” known as the “national eye,” will empower Türkiye’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Defense firm Asisguard developed a new gimbal to meet the needs of cloud UAVs—the gimbal carries basic sensing systems, such as a camera, laser, thermal sensor, and other similar equipment, and it provides high performance to the UAVs it is attached to.

The gimbal, which weighs 3.5 kilograms (7.72 pounds), allows UAVs to take clear images and track targets in the harshest conditions with a 640 by 512 resolution cooled and thermal camera module.

It also features 1920 by 1080 resolution imaging capabilities and 30 times optical zoom for day missions that has two-axis stabilization. The gimbal also has a five-kilometer laser distance meter.

Asisguard CEO Baris Duzgun told Anadolu that the firm has been working in this field for six years to develop electro-optic systems, which started with 360-degree situational awareness cameras on armored vehicles, empowering around 3,000 now, and these were fixed cameras.

Duzgun explained that the cameras the firm makes now offer longer distance and faster detection with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

He mentioned that Asisguard’s electro-optical solutions are used in land vehicles and for border security, with a capability to detect people from 15 kilometers (9.32 miles) and vehicles from 20 kilometers (12.43 miles), noting that the firm installed a similar solution in Nigeria.

He highlighted that unmanned systems have become widespread, and the firm is transferring its experience to other surveillance vehicles.

“We started to develop a product with a targeted weight of 1 to 3 kilograms with the contributions and guidance of Türkiye’s Defense Industry Agency (SSB) and defense firm Havelsan,” he said. “With a cooled camera on a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV that is in inventory, we made a gimbal system to detect people from 8 kilometers and vehicles from 20 kilometers away—day and night.”

Duzgun said the gimbal solution that will enter the Turkish defense industry’s inventory for the first time is among the four products the firm has developed in this field, noting that the gimbal can be used in all vehicles in the VTOL class.

He mentioned that the price-to-performance ratio of the firm’s gimbal is ahead of competitors, noting that demand from other countries will be high.

“We also have other solutions that we will use in our own UAV called ‘Songar,” he said.

“We’re also designing gimbals as heavy as 1 to 1.5 kilograms,” he added. “We also have cameras that are lighter and with good performance.”