STM will take part in the Turkish Armed Forces Exercise EFES-2026 with its autonomous swarm systems and advanced naval platforms.
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Press Release, Ankara, 18 May 2026: STM will take part in EFES-2026, the largest military exercise of the Turkish Armed Forces, with its autonomous swarm systems and advanced naval platforms.
As one of Türkiye’s leading defence industry companies, STM (Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş.), continues to enhance the operational capabilities of the Turkish Armed Forces with its advanced technologies proven in the battlefield. During the EFES-2026 Exercise, conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in Seferihisar, İzmir, with the participation of 45 countries, STM’s modern naval platforms and unmanned systems will actively operate in various phases of the exercise.
KARGU Swarm to Demonstrate Its Capabilities at EFES-2026: As part of EFES-2026, STM’s combat-proven loitering munition system KARGU will demonstrate its autonomous swarm capability in the field. Powered by artificial intelligence and image processing-based mission capabilities, KARGU platforms can execute coordinated swarm operations and conduct simultaneous strikes against targets. STM had previously demonstrated its swarm UAV capability during a field test conducted in Polatlı, Ankara, in January 2026. During the test, a swarm consisting of 20 KARGU systems autonomously engaged and accurately struck designated targets with live ammunition under the control of a single operator, using fully indigenous algorithms. The test marked a world-first in live-fire swarm operations.
Türkiye’s Leading Naval Platforms at EFES: Various vessels from the MİLGEM Ada-Class Corvette Project — Türkiye’s first indigenous corvette program, in which STM serves as the lead subcontractor and has delivered four corvettes to the Turkish Navy to date — are successfully performing missions during the live-fire phases of the exercise. In addition to STM’s submarine construction projects, submarines modernised with indigenous and advanced systems by STM are also taking part in EFES-2026.
STM’s Latest Technologies to Be Exhibited at EFES: At the Defense Industry Exhibition organised within the scope of the exercise, STM’s naval and unmanned solutions reflecting its engineering capabilities will be showcased to international military delegations. Türkiye’s first national frigate TCG İstanbul (F-515), for which STM is the main contractor, Türkiye’s first national fast attack craft, a logistics support vessel, and the autonomous underwater vehicle STM NETA 300 will be exhibited at the STM stand.
In the unmanned systems domain, products unveiled for the first time at SAHA-2026 will also be displayed during EFES. These include the 1000+ km-range kamikaze UAV system KUZGUN, the high-speed drone interceptor TUNGA-X capable of reaching speeds up to 300 km/h to neutralise hostile loitering munitions, the TOGAN-Mini reconnaissance and surveillance UAV, the Kargu FPV kamikaze drone, the TOGAN tactical reconnaissance UAV, and the combat-proven loitering munition system KARGU, currently operational in 15 countries across four continents.
STM General Manager Özgür Güleryüz made the following statement regarding EFES-2026: “The EFES Exercise remains one of the most critical platforms to showcase the high operational capabilities of our Armed Forces and the technological maturity of our defence industry to the world. At STM, we are proud to stand by our security forces and global partners with modern solutions ranging from naval platforms to autonomous systems. The active deployment of our autonomous KARGU swarms at EFES-2026 is a testament to the technological height we have reached. In line with Türkiye’s goal for a fully independent defence industry, we will continue to develop combat-proven, game-changing technologies that empower security forces in the field.”
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