The Turkish Armed Forces have taken delivery of an armed drone system, Songar, which is the first national armed drone system to be developed by ASİSGUARD. The system was delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) after the successful completion of acceptance tests. Equipped with advanced features, Songar will undertake critical tasks in operations conducted by both the TAF and security forces.

Whilst other countries, namely China, have developed drones with machine guns, Turkey is believed to be the first country to deploy one. Equipped with an automatic machine gun, ASİSGUARD says the Songar can carry out operations within a three kilometre radius. The system can transfer images in real time and carry 200 rounds of 5.56x45 mm NATO ammunition. The drone features a specially designed flexible ammunition feed chute (ammunition belt) and an automatic firing mechanism, and can operate at altitudes of 2,800 metres.   Its total weight when fully equipped with ammo is 25 kg. 

  Stating that they have been working hard to develop the system solutions required by Turkey,  Ayhan Sunar, general manager at ASİSGUARD, which produces military vehicle electronics,  micro-drone strike systems, electro-optical imaging and border security systems, underlined that the Songar system can undertake many critical tasks, including locating the target area, eliminating the threat, transferring real-time images and carrying out post-operation damage assessment. “It stands out as one of the leading national capabilities in asymmetric warfare as a result of its firing accuracy,” he said.

Launched for the first time at IDEF 2019, Songar is undergoing continuous improvement through intensive efforts. ASİSGUARD says it has achieved further success in field tests after the integration of a grenade launcher in place of the machine gun, and its firing precision was significantly improved with the inclusion of an Electronic Sight and Ballistic Calculation Module”,, specially designed by ASİSGUARD. National and international patent applications have been made for Songar's stabilisation system.  ASİSGUARD, which is a trademark of Ankara-based Asis Elektronik, produces military vehicle electronics,  micro-drone strike systems, electro-optical imaging and border security systems.