Even though IDEF'23, which is not only one of the most important defense industry fairs in our country but also in the world, has ended, the echoes of the projects announced here continue...
One of the projects that still has an impact is the 'Aircraft-Deployable Smart Sea Mine UÇA,' bearing the signatures of KoçSavunma, MKE, and TÜBİTAK SAGE. UÇA also serves as an example of different defense industry companies working together.
Berker Emre Tok, Head of Business Development and Corporate Sustainability Unit at Koç Information and Defense Technologies Inc., talks about how the process developed before explaining the importance of the UÇA project.
Tok says they were involved in a TÜBİTAK project under the 'Malaman' smart sea mine project in 2018 and shares the information that "We have made significant progress in the project as of this year. And at this point, we have put the sea mine into mass production."
Berker Emre Tok mentions that the product produced under the Malaman project will undergo all qualification tests by the end of this year. Then, they highlight that it will meet a product that meets the operational needs at the strategic level of the Turkish Armed Forces.
"We turned the mine we produced into an offensive product"
Tok notes that during the work carried out in Malaman, they rolled up their sleeves to use the knowledge gained in a different way and continues:
"During the Malaman project, we produced an electronic module consisting of smart mine's magnetic, acoustic, and pressure sensors. The idea of turning this module into an airborne deployable offensive weapon, as in different applications in the world, developed over the years.
Then things became more concrete, and our persistent explanations resulted in a synergy and enabled us to create a fast concept. The concept, which can be described as precision aerial mining in its most general form, was named UÇA."
Berker Emre Tok also shares that UÇA can be launched from either a combat aircraft or an unmanned aerial vehicle and explains that the said ammunition can be launched to the desired area from a distance of over 120 km.
"By being able to launch from this distance, your aircraft achieves this without entering the range of enemy weapons," says Tok, according to whom, with UÇA, the enemy's sea operation area can be effectively controlled using this method.
Tok emphasizes that UÇA will provide significant strategic contributions to the Turkish Armed Forces in maritime operations and explains that we will frequently hear news about the export of this project in the near future:
"We are excited to have provided the Turkish Naval Forces with a multi-purpose capability that can be used both for offensive purposes and for controlling enemy sea areas. Hopefully, after certain stages, UÇA will enter mass production and become a major strategic capability.
In recent years, we know that Turkish UAVs have been in demand from all over the world. UÇA is actually a product that enhances the potential of domestic UAVs. In this context, we may frequently hear news about the export of UÇA capability together with UAVs in the near future."
