In the 1st International Military Radar and Border Security Summit, Turkish companies in the international defence industry arena introduced their latest technology products on physical and electronic border security. During the panels, the participants were informed about the latest developments in homeland security and radar technologies. Current Developments were discussed in the Border Security Panel which was moderated by Yılmaz KÜÇÜKSEYHAN, TOBB Turkey Defence Industry Council President and Deputy Secretary General of SASAD. In the session, panelists presented various key topics. Halil İbrahim ÖZTÜRK from the Presidency of the Defence Industries highlighted the latest developments regarding the protection of sensitive areas.  Ömer Faruk ABAY from the provincial administration and İzzet ŞİRİN from Havelsan Technology Radar addressed the topic of a conceptual approach to border security and Ayça BAŞSOY BÖNCÜ from Aselsan UGES group discucssed the Coastal Border Security System and working culture with contractors. 

The second session of the day was moderated by Mehmet Vacit ŞAR from the Aerospace Cluster Association under the title of “Borders with New Technologies”. Panelists Koray AKÇAY from Aselsan UGES (New Technologies in Border Security), Nevzat POLAT from TAI (UAV use in Cross-border Operations and Border Security, Onur DEVECİ from Aselsan UGES Group (Mobile Border Security Systems) and Haldun OLGUN, Business Development Manager of FNSS made their presentations. During the second part of the day, during the session on Border Security Construction Projects, on behalf of the Nuclear Engineers Association, Şule ERGÜN made a special presentation about the business opportunities in the nuclear energy market for Defence Industry Companies. 

The second day of the event started with Brigadier General Yusuf ERGE’s special presentation on Introducing the National Air and Missile Security Architecture under the General Concept of Air and Missile Defence. During the Radar Projects and Applications session moderated by the Presidency of Defence Industries Radar Systems Group Manager, Onur FİL, Mert SERKAN from Aselsan/REHIS Group (Surveillance applications by Air SAR Systems), Mustafa AYAZOĞLU and Çağlar BÖKE from Aselsan/SST (Anti-Drone systems and Challenges), and again Melih GÜNAY from Aselsan/REHIS Group (Radar Networks and Command & Control applications) made their presentations respectively. 

In the Coastal Surveillance Radar System Project session moderated by Hüseyin BAĞCI, İsmail ILGAR from the Coast Guard Command, Tayfur YAYLAGÜL from Havelsan, Murat AYKAN from AYESAŞ and Volkan BEYAZGÜN from MilSOFT shared the most up-to-date information on the work shares in the CSRS project and the other projects carried out under their responsibility.

During the afternoon session of the second day, Defence Industry Expert Arda MEVLÜTOĞLU made a special presentation on Turkey’s Air Defence: Emerging Threats and Early Warning Capability. The last session of the day was held under the title of TÜBİTAK and Radar Projects. In this panel, Engin Utku ŞENSES from TÜBİTAK-Bilgem (ED/ELINT systems); Adnan ORDUYILMAZ from TÜBİTAK-Bilgem; Adnan LANA from TÜBİTAK-Bilgem, TÜBİTAK- Bilgem (BTE Aviation Radar Solutions) made their presentations.

Companies Advertised Their Latest Products and Capabilities

During the two-day event, the companies providing services and products for indigenous radar technologies for homeland and border security advertised their newest products and capabilities.  Aselsan exhibited the nationally developed ACAR Surveillance Radar, SEDA Gunshot Detection System, MÜGAS Mobile Security System together with the MIDAS (Multipurpose Intelligent Distributed Acoustic Sensor) system which can detect underground tunnels and excavations at the borderline. 

Also, at the summit introducing their products were companies such as Telmek with their control room consoles, GPS Navigator with onboard custom navigation system produced by OES Denizcilik under Kayacı Group, Non-lethal ammunition produced by Turaç for the purpose of deterring illegal border crossings and the locally developed X-Ray device from Havelsan Technology Radar and Mine detectors used by the Turkish Armed Forces in Operation Olive Branch produced by Öztekin.

CSRS Project Deliveries will begin in 2019

The Coast Surveillance Radar System (CSRS) was one of the important projects introduced at the summit. The project that is currently under development by Havelsan for the Coast Guard Command and is planned to be completed in 2020, was initiated to prevent illegal activities such as smuggling, illegal immigration, uncontrolled hunting in all territorial waters of Turkey. The CSRS Project is a comprehensive and integrated project that is being realized for the first time in our country where the information produced by the Marine Information System is shared with many state institutions and organizations. In this way, state institutions can work in a coordinated manner. The project, which will provide not only surveillance but also identification, detection and decision support service, is the first national and domestic project in this field.

The first deliveries will begin in 2019 and the CSRS Project will be exported to foreign markets. Havelsan officials stated that the interest of the Gulf countries is intense and also pointed out that the potential is high as well in Far East countries.