The Turkish Navy tested joint operations by both crewed and uncrewed platforms, including a live attack by a one-way attack unmanned surface vehicle (USV), during a recent exercise.
Denizkurdu-I/2026 was held from September 20 to 25 across the Black, Marmara, Aegean, and Mediterranean seas. It involved 100 ships and 50 aircraft, while about 14,000 personnel from the various military service branches and the Turkish Coast Guard Command participated.
“Our future operational concept will be based on using manned and unmanned systems in a way that supports one another,” Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, Turkish Naval Forces Commander, said.
The exercise tested integrated missions involving crewed platforms and autonomous systems, along with a hybrid model connected through network-centric capabilities. Digital command-and-control (C2), communications and datalink systems were used to support rapid information exchange.
One-way attack surface, underwater and aerial systems intended for the navy’s future inventory also operated in joint scenarios.
Tatlıoğlu added that a USV developed by unmanned systems specialist MKE destroyed a surface target. According to a separate MKE statement reported by news outlet Anadolu Agency, the USV used a 100kg live warhead.
The USV was controlled from a C2 console aboard a Tuzla-class patrol vessel. MKE described the demonstration as the first attack against a surface target using a live warhead to be conducted by that particular USV series.
The company said the USV has a speed exceeding 40 knots and a mission range of more than 200 nautical miles. It can be operated remotely or autonomously using radio-frequency and satellite communications.