Anadolu Agency reported that HAVELSAN’s test was varied out at UAV Test Centre in Kalecik. The test was performed at Hybrid Swarm Operations Centre. Unmanned systems consisting of two Under-Cloud Unmanned Aerial Vehicles BAHA, two Unmanned Ground Vehicles BARKAN and five drones worked together in the formation. All vehicles fulfilled their assigned tasks by sharing tasks in line with their abilities.
HAVELSAN General Manager Mehmet Akif Nacar said that with the R&D project that started in 2020, they had realised the roadmap for swarm unmanned vehicles step by step.
Stating that the studies in this scope started with the Unmanned Ground Vehicle BARKAN and made the vehicle capable of autonomous missions, Nacar said they started working on unmanned systems for sub-cloud missions and revealed BAHA.
Explaining that they are working to implement swarm intelligence autonomously with these vehicles and swarm-friendly drones, Nacar stated that they have implemented an infrastructure that can take off simultaneously and work together within the framework of different formations.
Noting that they tested the Hybrid Swarm Operation Centre in the last field test, Nacar gave the following information about the test:
“Our two UAVs perform reconnaissance missions from the sky. Unmanned ground vehicles are directed to the targets that UAVs detect. After detecting the targets of unmanned ground vehicles, we also send our swarm drones to that region and continue exploring the area from there.
We are taking a crucial step by doing this on the field. In the future systems, we will be developing this ecosystem by working on different scenarios, scenarios where there may be more unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles and swarm drones, and where several drones can operate simultaneously. Today, we achieved substantial success.”
Stating that their work is slowly starting to pay off, Nacar said that they exported BAHA, which is planned for use within the Turkish Armed Forces, and delivered BARKAN to the inventory.
Nacar said, “Thanks to this operation centre, we will have autonomously accessed the ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously with a single command centre. From now on, we will continue on our way to realising larger swarms, larger ecosystems.”
Emphasising that the test conducted with the Hybrid Swarm Operations Centre revealed that the “swarm intelligence” has reached the maturity to be able to take the field in terms of algorithms and software, Nacar made the following assessments:
“This combined system of our software and algorithms that we have made and developed, whether it is a distributed system or the management of these swarms with a central system, and also with swarm intelligence, actually shows the maturity level of the software. The relative positions of the drones concerning each other, their communication between themselves, link connections, and changing their positions as a result of communication are all part of this work. Of course, it is ground-controlled.
The head of the swarm is a commander. The commander orders the UAVs. When they find the target, they report it to the commander, who sends the ground vehicles there. This was a test that showed that our algorithms had reached maturity. We think we will continue these tests in more challenging conditions, in different fields, and do more successful work.”
Mehmet Akif Nacar said that different companies aim to integrate their unmanned vehicles into this system and that they think they can achieve this by communicating with an autonomy module or existing autonomy. Nacar noted that there is a roadmap for including the existing products in the inventory in the Hybrid swarm in the same way.
HAVELSAN Product Development and Production Director Veysel Ataoğlu said that they have been conducting various tests in the field for a long time and are trying to ensure that different vehicles can fulfil the concept of a joint mission.
Ataoglu said:
“We are not the manufacturers of these platforms; we are in their mindset. Some companies produce these platforms, and we make them smart and turn them into robots. These robots will contribute in terms of cost, reduction of military losses, and a high level of success. By running an algorithm, we call artificial intelligence within HAVELSAN, we have brought these systems to a level where they can move together.”
Ataoğlu gave the following information about export activities:
“We exported BAHA. Our second export may take place very soon. There is a demand from a country in Central Asia, and we can say that we have reached 90 per cent. We aim to show that BARKAN can be integrated into this system with BAHA, and we are trying to create a concept that can be used abroad. Our goal is to realise the export of BARKAN shortly.”
