Turkey’s growing expertise in unmanned defense systems has reached a new milestone at sea. The SANCAR Armed Unmanned Surface Vessel (AUSV), jointly developed by HAVELSAN and Yonca-Onuk Shipyard, has successfully completed its live-fire trials in the Marmara Sea.
During the tests, attended by officials from the Presidency of Defense Industries and the Turkish Naval Forces Command, SANCAR demonstrated high-precision strikes using its 12.7 mm stabilized weapon system, fully integrated with the ADVENT Combat Management System (CMS) through its ADVENT ROTA version.
SANCAR is now the first and only AUSV fully integrated into ADVENT, a next-generation CMS designed by HAVELSAN for network-centric naval warfare. Equipped with advanced engagement capability, mine detection functions, and autonomous mission execution, SANCAR represents a significant step toward the operational use of unmanned naval assets.
According to HAVELSAN, the integration of ADVENT ROTA into SANCAR allows seamless interoperability with other Turkish Navy platforms already operating under the ADVENT ecosystem. This marks the first operational deployment of ADVENT ROTA, a variant tailored for unmanned systems.
Mehmet Akif Nacar, General Manager of HAVELSAN, emphasized the strategic value of the program:
“SANCAR is not just another unmanned vessel—it is a pioneering platform that combines our experience in autonomous systems with the future vision of naval operations. With this success, we have laid the foundation for an expanding family of unmanned surface vehicles that will serve both domestic and international markets.”
Positioned at the heart of future naval battlespaces, SANCAR AUSV showcases how Turkey is blending autonomy, networked warfare, and precision strike capabilities into a single platform—opening the door to larger ambitions and innovations in unmanned maritime operations.
