Success With Military UAV, Turkey Prepares STM-500 Mini Submarine

Turkish submarine illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/MEOGLOBAL)

JAKARTA - After securing great success in developing, operating and exporting its domestic military unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Turkey is preparing a similar success story with a mini-submarine in the near future.

A defense and maritime researcher said the 'game-changing' combat drone would have the equivalent of a mini-submarine that could operate in the 'Blue Motherland' representing the seas around the country.

Kozan Selçuk Erkan, one of the experts following developments, spoke about Turkey's submarine-building skills, telling state broadcaster TRT Haber that "there is a calm and profound process in line with the spirit of the submarine."

Noting that Ankara has acquired this strategic approach thanks to a submarine construction program that has been going on since the 1980s, Erkan pointed out that more levels of localization and new production skills are acquired with each new production.

With the development of the Reis-class submarine, an air-independent propulsion system submarine developed under the New Type Submarine Project – the country's industry has reached a much higher level, Erkan said.

Turkish submarine illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Radosław Botev)

Commenting on the mini-sub, Erkan underlined that small submarines, due to their nature, will be more difficult to develop because too many subsystems need to be built in a small volume.

"But this is something our shipbuilding industry can handle now," he said, citing Daily Sabah January 25.

He said the STM-500 codenamed mini-sub, developed by STM which had previously taken an important role in the development of Reis-class submarines, would be a platform where the level of domestically produced parts is set to be much higher.

"Everyone knows what kind of embargo our country faces on some strategic subsystems," he commented, adding that "with the mini-subs that we are about to produce, a class will emerge in which foreign dependence in this area will remain at its lowest level."

Describing the platform as "a powerful, long-range vehicle that can stay underwater for a long time," Erkan pointed to Turkey's geostrategic position, explaining: "It may not be possible to achieve the desired result with a large submarine in an area like the Aegean Sea. The sea, which is also known as the Archipelago Sea, is partially shallow in depth, and the Black Sea, which is an enclosed sea.

"Turkey, which is on its way to becoming a global player, does need a submarine like the Reis class, where technology is at the highest level." He went on to say, “However, mini-submarines, which are cost-effective to manufacture and operate, are of great importance to us as well for close waters.”

Turkish submarine illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Joly Jumper)

Products manufactured by Turkey in the defense industry find buyers in different markets in the world, Erkan said, and "Turkey has risen to the top league in the military shipbuilding industry in recent years," he added.

"For mini-submarines, we are exactly in the position of tactical class UAVs. When Turkey started producing tactical class UAVs, there were only large class UAVs or expensive tactical UAVs in the world. It would not be wrong to say so. Ankara lit up the market in this world with great choices. right," he explained.

"In the small submarine class, we are at the same point today. In other words, while the West is oriented towards very large and expensive submarines or very technological and expensive submarines, our orientation towards these types of small submarines can create a different market for us."

Erkan said that many countries in the world want to have submarines but do not want to be burdened with operational costs.

"I believe the national mini-submarine has the potential to be a different power multiplier like UAVs," he concluded.