ASELSAN Anti-Drone Systems Destroy Targets as Defense Push Widens
By Bosphorus News Defense Desk
ASELSAN's anti-drone systems destroyed targets in a field test designed to show how Türkiye's defense electronics industry is moving against one of the most urgent threats on modern battlefields: mini and micro unmanned aerial vehicles that can overwhelm conventional defenses at low cost.
The test focused on three systems: İHTAR, EJDERHA and GÖKBERK. TRT Haber, citing Anadolu Agency, reported that the systems operated against mini and micro UAV targets in separate tactical scenarios, with detection, tracking, electronic effect and destruction functions brought into the same counter-UAV chain.
ASELSAN's DRONEDEF counter-UAV family includes systems built around radar detection, command-control, jamming, high-power electromagnetic effect and laser destruction. In the test, İHTAR detected and engaged part of the threat set, while remaining targets were assigned through the command-control structure to EJDERHA and GÖKBERK.
The test matters because anti-drone defense has moved from a niche requirement to a central military problem. Small drones, swarm attacks and improvised UAV threats now force armies to defend bases, convoys, public facilities, energy infrastructure and frontline units against systems that are cheaper than the weapons often used to stop them.
ASELSAN's role in that field goes beyond a single test. The company is trying to position itself not only as Türkiye's main defense electronics house, but as a larger global defense brand with ambitions in a rapidly expanding market, a shift tied to the company's rebranding and long-term market vision, as Bosphorus News detailed in its earlier profile of ASELSAN's global brand push.
The anti-drone test also fits the wider ÇELİKKUBBE air defense picture. Türkiye's layered air defense effort depends not only on long-range interceptors, but on lower-layer systems able to defeat drones, loitering munitions and saturation threats before they force the use of more expensive missiles. In that sense, İHTAR, EJDERHA and GÖKBERK belong to the part of the shield where speed, cost and close-range protection become decisive.
ASELSAN's wider industrial momentum is also visible in a separate contract package. TurDef, citing public disclosure material, reported that the company signed contracts worth $845 million covering public safety communications, satellite and space systems. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2026.
That contract line matters because air defense, counter-drone systems and battlefield electronics depend on secure communications, data links, sensors and space-supported infrastructure. A counter-UAV system is not only a weapon at the point of engagement; it is part of a network that must detect, classify, assign and neutralize threats under time pressure.
ASELSAN has also been widening its unmanned systems portfolio at sea. Naval News reported that the company showcased the KILIÇ kamikaze autonomous underwater vehicle family at EFES 2026, including KILIÇ 10 and KILIÇ 200 variants designed for underwater strike missions against naval targets.
The KILIÇ family places ASELSAN inside the broader unmanned warfare picture Türkiye displayed at EFES 2026, where TCG Anadolu, drone swarms and naval-air integration were central to the exercise. That context was already visible in Bosphorus News coverage of Türkiye's TCG Anadolu and drone swarm display at EFES 2026.
The naval display also sat inside EFES 2026's wider strategic messaging. Türkiye used the exercise to project readiness across the Aegean, Cyprus and broader maritime security files, a setting Bosphorus News linked to Ankara's wider defense posture around Cyprus, the Aegean and Hormuz.
The common line across these developments is not simple product expansion. ASELSAN is building around the systems that modern warfare now rewards: anti-drone defense, secure communications, electronic effect, space-linked infrastructure and unmanned naval strike capability.
The latest anti-drone test gives that shift a visible battlefield logic. Türkiye's defense industry is not only producing larger platforms and missiles; it is also trying to close the lower-layer gaps where cheap drones, saturation attacks and electronic warfare now decide whether more expensive systems can survive long enough to matter.