ASELSAN expands naval drone portfolio with two new autonomous systems

Turkey’s ASELSAN unveiled two new unmanned naval systems at SAHA 2026 in Istanbul on May 5, expanding the country’s autonomous warfare portfolio into both underwater strike and surface vessel domains with platforms designed for swarm operations, covert missions, and asymmetric combat at sea.

The company introduced the KILIÇ family of autonomous underwater strike systems and the TUFAN Unmanned Surface Vehicle at a launch event during the exhibition, according to ASELSAN’s announcement. Both systems are built around swarm-enabled architectures that allow coordinated autonomous operations, a design philosophy that reflects where naval warfare is heading as underwater and surface drones proliferate across multiple navies simultaneously.

The KILIÇ family covers the subsurface domain, developed for asymmetric warfare and covert operations in multiple variants. ASELSAN describes the systems as combining portability, low detectability, and high-precision engagement capabilities, with advanced sensing, communication, and navigation systems that allow each variant to operate independently or as part of coordinated swarm structures. The family’s portability emphasis is significant: an autonomous underwater strike system that can be transported and deployed without the logistical footprint of a conventional submarine or heavyweight torpedo platform gives smaller naval forces — and special operations units — a covert precision strike option that was previously available only to navies with major submarine programs. Low detectability in an underwater strike system means passive acoustic signature, hydrodynamic shaping, and materials selection that reduce the probability of detection by adversary sonar during approach and attack.

TUFAN addresses the surface domain, designed for both offensive missions and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. The platform combines high speed and maneuverability with advanced autonomy, enabling deployment in both littoral and open-sea conditions, per the company’s announcement. Its swarm-enabled architecture supports simultaneous missions including reconnaissance, surveillance, and precision engagement, which means a fleet of TUFAN vessels can divide tasks among themselves autonomously rather than requiring individual operator attention for each unit. An unmanned surface vehicle that can conduct ISR at standoff range and transition to a strike role in the same sortie, operating as part of a coordinated swarm, compresses the sensor-to-shooter timeline in ways that manned systems coordinating over radio links cannot match.

ASELSAN President and CEO Ahmet Akyol connected both systems to a broader strategic frame in his comments at the launch. “Securing beyond the boundaries of naval domain requires a new level of autonomy, integration and operational flexibility,” Akyol said. “As maritime security gains increasing importance in today’s operational environment, we are leveraging our geographical advantages to enhance our capabilities at sea and introducing our new generation unmanned naval systems, designed to address the evolving requirements of modern maritime operations,” he said. The reference to geographical advantages is pointed. Turkey sits astride the Turkish Straits connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, controls critical maritime approaches, and faces a complex security environment that includes contested waters, contested airspace, and the ongoing war in Ukraine reshaping naval threat calculus across the region.

ASELSAN’s move into autonomous naval systems extends a track record the company has built primarily in land and air defense electronics. Turkey’s broader defense industrial ecosystem has developed significant UAV capability through companies like Baykar and TAI, and ASELSAN’s announcement explicitly references that heritage: “Building on our experience in UAV technologies, we aim to strengthen Türkiye’s position in unmanned naval systems, as well, with our new products,” Akyol said.  applicability to the naval domain.

The SAHA 2026 exhibition, running in Istanbul, is Turkey’s flagship defense industry event and the venue where Turkish companies have repeatedly used high-profile launches to signal both domestic procurement ambitions and international export positioning. ASELSAN’s choice to unveil both KILIÇ and TUFAN at the same event, as a coordinated family of unmanned naval systems, reflects a deliberate effort to establish the company as a full-spectrum maritime autonomous systems provider rather than a supplier of individual platforms. Navies evaluating autonomous systems increasingly want integrated solutions that can be operated together rather than disparate systems requiring separate command and control infrastructure.