KAREL - Experts in Naval Platform Telecommunication Systems
Defense Turkey: With 35 years of experience in the field of telecommunication, KAREL also has a defense product portfolio. What would you like to say about your company’s position in the defense industry, which has strengthened over the years?
Senih BAŞOL: Established in 1986 as a telecommunication equipment manufacturer, today, KAREL is a technology company with all processes from design to production in R&D with approximately 3,500 employees. For more than 15 years, we have been providing indigenous solutions for the defense industry with our accumulated know-how. We can summarize our key competence and capability for defense products as the ability to offer cost-effective solutions while designing, thanks to our dynamism and experience in the civilian sector.
Defence Turkey: KAREL has various defense industry products. Considering the activities regarding naval platforms, how does KAREL set itself apart from the competition in this field?
Senih BAŞOL: KAREL focuses on providing suitable solutions for all naval platforms, from small to large sizes, by doing what it knows best, without straying from its field of expertise in its solutions designed for naval platforms. Since 2010, KAREL has provided intercom, PBX, alarm, and announcing systems at military standards for almost all newly built ships of the Turkish Naval Forces Command. Similarly, we have also supplied products to platforms built in our shipyards focused on overseas sales.
Defence Turkey: Can you briefly tell us about your solutions regarding Intercom Systems?
Senih BAŞOL: Regarding Intercom Systems, we have various solutions for different platforms from small to large sizes.
Our INTMAR series products stand out as intercom system solutions developed for relatively small platforms. In addition to its intercom feature, INTMAR-100 has radio transmit/receive capability. It can also send radio messages to the right and left headphones separately. The system, which allows user authorization for radio, also features a hands-free intercom functionality.
Our MAS200 product, with multiple user stations and radio connectivity capabilities, is a system designed to enable the ship commanders to communicate with higher command centers, their ship crew, as well as SAT teams that go ashore or another ship for operational purposes. This product has been highly satisfactory for us in our overseas sales as well.
Defence Turkey: Can you also tell us about your Switching / Exchange Systems? What are the prominent features of these systems?
Senih BAŞOL: Communication Switching Systems work in an integrated manner with various peripheral devices due to their tasks. Our products can easily be adapted to the existing infrastructures of the platforms with their flexible design.
Some of the prominent features of KAREL’s exchange solutions for naval platforms are as follows.
Hybrid Structure: Combines various product functions, especially Analog and IP Exchange, IP Gateway, radio connection, into one device. Manages and controls voice, video, and data traffic from a single source. Mobile communication solutions, network applications, and PC-phone integration
IP Technology: Enables communication with IP communication applications and access units
Routing Network Topology: Ability to work as a single exchange on all network connections to execute multi-central applications
Remote Access: Remote access over IP-based network for management, programming, or maintenance purposes
Backup: Backup of structures such as main processor, switching matrix.
Each module has its own processor.
Defence Turkey: Can you briefly inform us about KAREL’s Alarm and Announcement Systems?
Senih BAŞOL: According to the requirements of the naval platforms, we offer alarm and announcement system solutions covering 5 to 1,000 speakers, single to dozens of alarm/announcement stations, and announcement zones.
AD100 is our product series in this regard.
These are the systems where alarms can be given on a regional basis, announcements and broadcasts can be made to selected regions over radio-CD. You can control and manage the entire system with the central unit within the system, and the system capacity can be expanded by adding modular subsystems.
The power supply of the entire system is provided from a single point. Special filtering blocks out the noise coming from the power supply.
Defense Turkey: Can you evaluate KAREL’s 2021 performance, particularly in the defense field?
Senih BAŞOL: The sales activities we conducted and the business potential we created in the field of defense were beyond our expectations in 2021 despite the pandemic conditions. As part of our international expansion strategy, we closed out a satisfactory year in terms of marketing activities
