Türkiye’s unmanned naval portfolio took centre stage at Teknofest Mavi Vatan 2026, held at Gölcük Naval Base and Naval Shipyard Command in Kocaeli from 20 to 23 August 2026.

The maritime-focused event brought naval platforms, industry exhibits, demonstrations and student competitions together at one of the Turkish Naval Forces’ main shipyard facilities. It was the second Teknofest Mavi Vatan: a naval-focused version of the Teknofest series of events. The first was held in Istanbul Naval Shipyard in 2025.

The 2026 programme included unmanned maritime vehicles, underwater systems and underwater rocket competitions. Ship visits, exhibitions and naval demonstrations were also held during the four-day event.

For the defence industry, the event provided a venue to display systems at different stages of development. These ranged from small examples of control hardware to strike-oriented unmanned vessels.

The Tufan enters the water

The most notable new platform was the Tufan: a ‘kamikaze’ unmanned surface vessel developed by Aselsan and built by Ares Shipyard. The vessel was put into the water publicly for the first time during the event.

Ares Shipyard announced on social media that the platform has completed sea trials. It did not disclose where the trials were conducted, how long they lasted or which systems were assessed. The Tufan was first displayed at Saha Expo 2026 in early May in Istanbul.

Aselsan describes the Tufan as an 8.1 m unmanned surface vessel (USV) for offensive and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. It uses a gasoline engine and waterjet propulsion. The company states it has a maximum speed of more than 50 knots (93 km/h)and a range of 200 nautical miles (370 km) at 35 knots.

The vessel carries an unspecified insensitive high-explosive warhead. It is intended to engage surface targets, coastal infrastructure and other designated targets by impact. Aselsan says that the Tufan can operate alone or in co-ordinated groups.

Published material refers to vision-based navigation, obstacle avoidance and target detection. The vessel is also intended to connect with naval command networks.

Publicly available information does not specify its sensor fit, communications links, degree of autonomy, control arrangement or warhead weight. Neither Aselsan nor Ares Shipyard has announced a Turkish Naval Forces order, production quantity, delivery schedule or export customer.

Its first appearance on the water, however, showed that the programme has moved beyond the mock-up stage displayed at Saha Expo 2026.

The Kiliç 10 and underwater strike systems

Aselsan’s Kiliç underwater kamikaze drone family was another part of the show. The company displayed the Kiliç 10 and demonstrated it alongside the Deringöz autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).

The Kiliç is intended to provide an expendable underwater strike capability. Such systems could be used against maritime targets, harbour infrastructure or other designated underwater and surface targets.

Public information on the family remains limited; Aselsan has not released details on the Kiliç 10’s speed, endurance, payload, launch arrangements or sensor suite.

The company said that series production is due to begin, but did not announce a production schedule, production quantity or customer.

The appearance of the Kiliç 10 alongside the Deringöz AUV also showed the range of underwater systems being developed in Türkiye. The two platforms have different roles. The Kiliç is designed around an attack mission, while the Deringöz is an AUV intended for underwater operations such as surveillance and reconnaissance.

In an interview with the state-owned Anadolu Agency, Aselsan CEO Ahmet Akyol stated that the company has begun series production of the Tufan kamikaze USV and the Kiliç underwater attack drone and is producing them in large quantities.

An unmanned amphibious vehicle

The unmanned underwater and surface systems were joined by an unmanned amphibious vehicle, with FNSS using the event to publicly present the İ-Zaha: an unmanned and modular member of the Zaha amphibious assault vehicle family.

The vehicle is intended for missions that could expose amphibious forces to hostile fire, obstacles or mines during the early stages of a landing operation. It could conduct reconnaissance missions, transport equipment or support other tasks ahead of manned vehicles, depending on its final configuration.

The manned Zaha was developed for the Turkish Naval Forces’ amphibious units and can operate both at sea and ashore. The İ-zaha extends that concept into an unmanned configuration.

FNSS has released limited technical information on the system. Its presentation showed that unmanned applications are also being considered for amphibious operations rather than just for surface, subsurface and aerial platforms.

Bayraktar Kalkan joins the fleet

Baykar’s Bayraktar Kalkan vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was formally accepted into the Turkish Naval Forces inventory during a ceremony at the event that was held aboard the frigate TCG Oruçreis.

The Kalkan provides a small VTOL UAV option for observation, reconnaissance and surveillance missions. A VTOL design can be relevant for shipborne use where deck space is limited and catapult or runway operations are not available.

Details of the number of aircraft accepted into service and their intended unit assignment were not made public.

The inventory acceptance ceremony was separate from the development and exhibition activities surrounding the other systems shown at Gölcük. The Kalkan’s status therefore differs from platforms such as the Tufan and İ-Zaha, which have not been announced as operational Turkish Naval Forces systems.

The T3 Gemstone O1

A smaller exhibit at the show concerned the development side of unmanned systems. Baykar and the T3 Foundation introduced the T3 Gemstone O1: an open-source development processing board that combines flight-control, image-processing and real-time control functions.

The board has a stated processing performance of four trillion operations per second (TOPS). Baykar and the T3 Foundation presented it as a tool for student teams and developers working on autonomous platforms.

While not a naval system itself, its introduction at a maritime-focused event reflected the organisers’ effort to provide hardware for teams working on unmanned air, land, surface and underwater projects.

The platform was also linked to the competitions held during Teknofest Mavi Vatan. Development boards of this type can provide a common hardware base for teams building autonomous vehicles. The extent to which the board will be used in operational or commercial systems remains unclear.

The Modular Armoured Control Boat

Another platform on display was the Modular Armoured Control Boat, or MZKB, developed by Gekatek Engineering with Trabzon Shipyard.

The boat is around 11 m long and 3.2 m wide and is fitted with two 300 hp outboard engines in its current configuration.

The MZKB combines armoured protection with a modular arrangement for coastal security, patrol, control and intervention tasks. The boat could be configured with different equipment according to the mission.

No information was released on its protection level, top speed, range, weapons fit or customer. The platform was displayed as an industry development rather than as a system announced for Turkish Naval Forces service.

Its presence added a crewed, protected coastal platform to an event dominated by unmanned and autonomous systems.

Update on Türkiye’s naval shipbuilding

The Teknofest Mavi Vatan event also offered a broader update on Turkish naval construction. The commander of the Turkish Naval Forces said that Turkish shipyards are building 61 warships for both the service and export customers (37 for Türkiye, 24 for export). He added that 10 more hulls would be added to this number.

No programme breakdown, ship list or construction schedule was released alongside the statement, however.

Turkish shipyards are currently involved in a range of naval programmes, including surface combatants, offshore patrol vessels, landing ships, fast attack craft, support vessels and export projects.