ASELSAN demonstrated the breadth of its unmanned naval capabilities during TEKNOFEST Mavi Vatan 2026 maritime and technology festival, held at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard Command on Aug 20-23. Across the four-day event, the company brought multiple maritime systems to the water, giving visitors a live look at technologies designed to operate across the surface, underwater and airborne domains.
Among the highlights was KILIÇ, Türkiye’s first kamikaze autonomous underwater vehicle, which demonstrated its capabilities live in Gölcük waters. TUFAN, ASELSAN’s kamikaze unmanned surface vehicle, also operated in Turkish waters for the first time following the completion of its sea trials. Both systems have completed development and entered serial production, while footage of their diving and navigation operations was released publicly for the first time.
As part of its participation, ASELSAN also showcased key components of Steel Dome, including HİSAR O, KALKAN 400G, KORKUT, GÖKSUR and GÜRZ, alongside DERİNGÖZ, DÜFAS and ASELBUOY, three standout systems shaping the future of the naval warfare.
ASELSAN is expanding its unmanned maritime capabilities across multiple domains, from underwater operations to airborne surveillance. DERİNGÖZ provides autonomous seabed scanning and navigation capabilities, while ASELBUOY P and ASELBUOY POD, integrated with the Bayraktar TB3, enable submarine detection from an unmanned aerial platform. Together, these systems demonstrate ASELSAN’s ability to develop autonomous solutions that extend maritime situational awareness from beneath the surface to the air. The systems also attracted strong interest from visitors at the event, reflecting growing attention to autonomous technologies for maritime security.
ASELSAN is also engaging the next generation of innovators through three competitions held as part of TEKNOFEST Mavi Vatan: The Unmanned Surface Vehicle Competition, Unmanned Underwater Systems Competition and Unmanned Underwater Systems Stars Competition. The competitions have attracted strong interest from young participants, with more than 4,500 teams applying to ASELSAN-organised competitions at the event. The scale of participation highlights the growing interest among young engineers and innovators in developing autonomous technologies for the maritime domain.
During the event, ASELSAN President and CEO Ahmet Akyol also announced a major expansion of the company’s investments in maritime technologies, including plans to lay the foundations for three critical new facilities: Gölcük Submarine Systems Integration Centre (GÖLTERKSOM), Pendik Underwater Technologies Artificial Intelligence Centre (ARMERKOM) and Tuzla Naval Test and Training Centre (DENTEM). The facilities will form an integrated maritime technology ecosystem, bringing together expertise, infrastructure and advanced engineering capabilities to accelerate the development of game-changing technologies for the underwater and naval domains.
Ahmet Akyol stated: “What we demonstrated in Teknofest Mavi Vatan is no longer a technology promise but an operational capacity,” reflecting ASELSAN’s growing strength in delivering advanced, operationally ready solutions across the maritime domain.
