Turkey’s Albatros-S Drone Boat Demos Herd Capabilities

Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) said the domestic armed unmanned surface vessel (AUSV) Albatros-S exhibited herd capabilities in recent tests.

"We continue to develop high-autonomy unmanned sea vehicles and expand our USV family! In the third phase of the project, we implemented the 8-herd architecture. Albatros-S USV Herd performs different tasks, shares sub-tasks, and is divided into sub-herds," SSB head Ismail Demir said in a statement.

A video shared by Demir showed the Albatros-S’s automatic target detection capabilities. The USV could be seen approaching the target with different maneuvers and engaging in a herd.

Albatros-S’s navigation capabilities were tested in Phase 1. It involved the USV’s ability to automatically avoid obstacles and approach the target with a smaller herd. In the second phase, where the joint mission capability with different AUSVs was demonstrated. The Albatros-S herd, worked together with Mir AUSV, which was developed by Aselsan-Sefine shipyard team. The USVs intercepted a “foreign” boat during tests.

Aselsan developed the new generation Albatros-S with subcontractors. Within the scope of the project, a tactical mesh communication capability was created for the maritime environment, per Turkish media.

The approximately 7m-long USV designed for herd missions has a speed of over 40 knots, a cruising range of over 200 nautical miles and a significant payload capacity.

Herd AUSVs will be able to continue their duty safely against various obstacles with capabilities such as a domestic communication system, control system, multi-communication system architecture and a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). The AUSVs also have the ability to maintain their duties in a non-communication environment.