Turkey’s Robot Soldier Barkan Successfully Fires Its First Guided Missile

The Turkish defense industry has been increasingly equipped with unmanned technology in recent years. In this context, although more than one unmanned land vehicle projects are carried out in Turkey, Barkan was the first vehicle to fire missiles.

Besides unmanned aerial vehicles, Turkey is also making progress on unmanned land vehicles. While more than one project was carried out in this area, Barkan was the first unmanned land vehicle to fire guided missiles. Barkan successfully carried out his first fire with the mini-missile system Mete.

Developed by Havelsan, Barkan will assist field personnel in a number of important areas, especially in increasing operational success, preventing losses and reducing operational costs. In particular, Barkan’s modular design enables it to be equipped with many different payloads.

A first from Havelsan Barkan

Known as the “robot soldier” in the media, Barkan recently fired his first laser-guided missile and successfully hit the target. The laser-guided mini-missile system Mete developed by Roketsan was used in the test. Barkan, which hit its target, became Turkey’s first unmanned ground vehicle that fired guided missiles in this context.

In addition to all these, Havelsan Barkan was originally designed to operate with the 7.62 millimeter Sarp-L weapon system. The vehicle also included features such as a robotic arm system, a 3-meter mast system for reconnaissance-surveillance missions, and wounded transport. After the tests, the product was developed and updated as Barkan 2 and made suitable for various platforms.

Next up is Havelsan Kapgan

Havelsan aims to test the much more advanced heavy class unmanned land vehicle Kapgan in the first half of this year. Kapgan stands out with its 1400 kg weight, 25 km/h top speed, 6-hour mission time and 30 mm gun system with an effective range of 2,000 m. Havelsan Barkan, on the other hand, has a weight of 500 kg, a duty time of 8 hours, and 7.62 mm / 40 mm Grenade Launcher systems. Both products have a modular design.