Turkish UGV BARKAN Launches GST Harpia 350 Loitering Munition
Havelsan, a Turkish company operating in the defense and information technology sectors, is working to integrate various weapon systems into the BARKAN unmanned ground vehicle. Within the scope of these efforts, the GSPT EFE hydrogen launch system developed by Gürbağ Defense and Technology was integrated into HAVELSAN’s unmanned autonomous land vehicle BARKAN II and fired the GST Harpia 350 loitering munition used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and kamikaze UAV purposes. As a consequence of the successful test, Barkan has reportedly become the first autonomous ground vehicle in the worldwide arena to use this sort of munition.
The tower integrated into BARKAN during this test consists of two hydrogen-based launchers that can be fired simultaneously. One of the tower’s two launchers can fire a mini laser-guided missile, while the other can fire a GST Harpia loitering munition. The GST Harpia loitering munition launched from the vehicle can operate within a radius of 15 kilometers and features an electric propulsion system, a flight altitude of 3,000 meters and an endurance of 40 minutes.
In a statement, to an AA correspondent, HAVELSAN Product Development and Production Director Veysel Ataoğlu said, “A loitering munition was fired from a Medium-1 class unmanned ground vehicle for the first time on international platforms. Our work on integrating different types of payloads into our modular BARKAN vehicle continues. Our primary goal here is to be able to use HAVELSAN’s software capabilities on this platform more effectively and to bring these software capabilities to the forefront. We have original autonomy and autopilot research projects that we incorporate into our unmanned systems. These unmanned systems will be used as a leading unit of the Turkish Armed Forces in the future, and it is a pleasure for us to bring this capability to the force.”
Barkan, which has recently entered service with the Turkish Armed Forces, is a medium-class unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) designed and manufactured by HAVELSAN to meet the needs of modern warfare. Barkan, the company’s first product in this field, was first unveiled in 2021. The company unveiled the BARKAN II UGV in 2022, based on platform user feedback. The two vehicles were designed to assist field personnel in a variety of ways, but mainly to increase the operational success of the Turkish Armed Forces, reduce military losses, and lower operational costs. However, the two vehicles differ slightly in terms of size, weight, mobility, payload, and weapons.
Because of their modular design, which allows different payloads to be integrated, Barkan unmanned ground vehicles can be used in multi-purpose missions. These duties include close protection for military units, equipment transport, casualty evacuation, bomb disposal, reconnaissance, and surveillance. To date, these vehicles have been outfitted with Aselsan’s 7.62mm Sarp-L Remote Controlled Weapon System, 12.7mm CANiK M2 QCB machine gun, 40-millimeter grenade launcher, Mete laser guided mini missile system, Robotic Arm (for bomb disposal missions), and a 3-meter Mast system for reconnaissance-surveillance missions. Havelsan is also working on the integration of high-power laser systems into Barkan UGVs.