The World’s First Laser Guided Missile System Integrated AUSV “ULAQ” Successfully Hits Target

The ULAQ Armed Unmanned Surface Vehicle (AUSV), developed by Turkish companies Meteksan Defence and ARES Shipyard, successfully completed missile firing tests during the Turkish Navy’s Sea Wolf 2021 Naval Exercise. According to the video footage, two CIRIT Laser Guided Missiles were fired from ULAQ AUSV in series and the target was successfully hit by the ULAQ with a salvo of shots fired on May 27th.

Within the scope of the scheduled firing test of the naval exercise, ULAQ launched the Roketsan-made CIRIT missile with telemetry on May 26th and following the first successful launch test, the CIRIT Missile that was fitted with a warhead was successfully launched and hit the target by the ULAQ AUSV on May 27th. 

The ULAQ AUSV firing ceremony was attended by senior officials from Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), Ministry of Defense, Turkish Naval Forces Command and Coast Guard Command, and started with speeches from ARES Shipyard CEO Utku ALANÇ and Meteksan Defence President Selçuk ALPARSLAN.           

ARES Shipyard’s CEO Utku ALANÇ expressed that with the completion of the firing tests, they are aiming to develop the World's Best Unmanned Surface Vehicles and become pioneers in the world as Turkish Engineers in this field. He also underlined that they have targeted bringing Turkey into a leading position in the world, creating trends in the field of USVs, just like the indigenous UAVs.

Meteksan Defence President Selçuk ALPARSLAN stated that as Turkey, while pioneering the doctrines rewritten in the world military conjuncture, they were immensely proud of the firing tests of the ULAQ AUSV, which were carried out within Sea Wolf 2021, the most comprehensive naval exercise in the history of the Turkish Republic. 

After the opening speeches, the ULAQ AUSV, which was positioned in the south of Antalya Bay with the Turkish Navy’s other combatant manned platforms, was activated and was directed from the Mobile Coastal Control Station (MCCS) and transferred to the firing area. The Naval Forces Command and Coast Guard Command platforms also accompanied the firing test. After the target was detected by sensors on the ULAQ, CIRIT Laser Guided Missiles were fired and resulted with a direct hit on the target.

President of Defense Industries (SSB) Prof. Dr. İsmail DEMIR made a speech to express his feelings after the successful firing, which was eagerly awaited by all the spectators. Prof. Dr. Demir used the following words in his statements: “Today, it is obvious that we must have a naval force for the protection of the Blue Homeland and the protection of our rights in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. In order to provide the platforms needed by our Naval Forces as the indomitable guardians of the Blue Homeland, equipped with the latest technologies, we will continue to work as the Presidency of Defense Industries in close cooperation with our Ministry of Defense, General Staff, Naval Forces Command, our industry and other relevant institutions. We have reached an indigenousness rate of up to 70 percent in our projects, and we will increase this even more.  

The days have come where we began to see similar products to the game changer UAVs, now in land vehicles, surface vessels and submarine forms. We are aware that combat environments with integrated unmanned systems await us and therefore we continue our work accordingly. We are supporting the endeavors to be put forward in this regard and we will continue to support them''.

The ULAQ AUSV is Turkey's first armed unmanned surface vehicle and can be operated via mobile vehicles on land and from a headquarters command center or from floating platforms such as aircraft carriers and frigates in the execution of missions such as Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Intelligence, Surface Warfare, Asymmetric Warfare, Armed Escort and Force Protection, and Critical Facility Security.

The ULAQ AUSV is equipped with four CIRIT and two L-UMTAS Missile Systems provided by Turkey’s missile systems manufacturer ROKETSAN. The ULAQ AUSV can also be configured with different types of payloads such as extended range surface-to-surface, surface-to-ground, surface-to-air missiles, electronic warfare, jamming, and different communication and intelligence systems as well as missile systems to meet different operational requirements. 

Moreover the ULAQ AUSV is not only a remotely controlled unmanned vehicle, but a state-of-the-art autonomous vessel with superior capabilities thanks to its artificial intelligence features.  It has the capability to operate with other AUSVs with equal or different structure, and conduct joint operations with UAVs, AUAVs, TUAVs and manned aircraft.

Following the AUSV version, which is the first phase of the project initiated by ARES Shipyard and Meteksan Defence, production will also begin on unmanned surface vehicles for intelligence and electronic warfare, mine hunting, anti-submarine warfare, firefighting and humanitarian aid/evacuation.