Turkey has unveiled a new drone, the Songar.



Songar is Turkey’s first armed drone and is equipped with an onboard machine gun.

The drone is advertised as a defensive weapon but could be used offensively.

Turkey has unveiled the country’s first armed drone, a small tactical unmanned aerial vehicle designed to provide fire support for convoys or defensive positions, day or night, to ranges of up to six miles. The drone is not only armed with cameras but a light machine gun.

The Songar drone is built by Turkish defense contractor Asisguard. According to the company, Songar is designed to, “ increase survival against harassment fire in patrol zones and fortress patrol areas, or in the event of any ambush or threat during the transition of land vehicles and convoys.”

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In the video above, four Turkish troops traveling down a dirt road are the victims of an ambush. The Turkish soldiers remove a Songar drone from the back of their vehicle, fire it up, and send it to locate those responsible for the attack. After locating them, the pilot of the Songar sends it in to open fire on the enemy, firing bursts of 5.56-millimeter automatic weapons fire point-blank into their location. The enemy neutralized, the Turks are able to drive safely away.

Songar weighs 55 pounds, has a range of 6.2 miles, and can reach an altitude of 9,200 feet. The drone is equipped with a day/night camera that transmits video in real time, providing damage assessment after the drone carries out an attack. The drone uses both the American GPS and Russian GLONASS navigation systems to get around, in case the country operating the drone finds itself locked out of one or the other. The system does not appear to be autonomous, requiring the drone operator or "man in the loop" to make the decision to open fire.

Songar appears to carry a modified assault rifle as armament, with a heavy barrel to prevent overheating during sustained firing. The gun features an automatic stabilized shooting system to stay on target and can traverse up to sixty degrees. The gun in the concept video uses a 30 round magazine, but the drone on the website appears to use a linked feeding system to provide up to 200 rounds. Yet another concept photo of Songar used at New Scientist appears to show the drone with a gun and 40-millimeter single-shot grenade launcher.

The drone is primarily meant as a defensive system, designed to fly above ambushers, locate them, and engage them with small arms fire. Asisguard admits, however, that the drone is heavily armed enough it could be used for offensive missions.

Source: New Scientist

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