STM Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret AŞ, one of the leading companies in Türkiye’s defense industry, delivered a standout performance at the Fire Power-2025 Exercise with its domestically developed tactical UAV systems. The exercise, demonstrating the Turkish Armed Forces’ firepower and modern battlefield capabilities, took place at the General Nahit Şenoğul Firing and Exercise Area in Ankara’s Polatlı district. During the Distinguished Observer Day, STM’s national UAV platforms drew significant attention from military delegations and invited guests.

A major highlight of the exercise was STM’s autonomous swarm drone capability. A swarm of 12 KARGU tactical UAVs autonomously took off under the command of a single operator and navigated to the mission area. The KARGU drones communicated with each other in real time, executed three different formation flights and then conducted a coordinated swarm strike on the designated target. This marked the first live demonstration of STM’s full-scale swarm drone capability during the Fire Power Exercise. STM had previously showcased a 6-drone autonomous swarm mission during the 2023 Haydar Aliyev Exercise in Kars, underscoring its leadership in this domain.

STM’s kamikaze drone KarguFPV also made its debut in the exercise. The fiber-optic tethered version of KarguFPV successfully operated in an intense electronic warfare environment, maintaining uninterrupted and secure control and video transmission without being affected by jamming attempts. Meanwhile, the original KARGU loitering munition, which has been in the Turkish Armed Forces inventory since 2018, carried out a precision dive strike using its anti-personnel warhead, neutralizing its target with full accuracy.

A defense industry exhibition area at the exercise site also showcased STM’s newest tactical UAV systems to military delegations. The platforms examined included KARGU, TOGAN reconnaissance UAV, BOYGA munition-drop UAV, the multi-munition variant BOYGA-B, TUNGA smart munition, the ALPAGU fixed-wing loitering munition, the new VTOL UAV system and KarguFPV. This provided a comprehensive demonstration of the capabilities STM offers across reconnaissance, strike, and swarm-enabled mission profiles.

STM’s advanced swarm architecture enables real-time communication, target prioritization and coordinated mission execution between UAVs of different classes. The drones autonomously share target data, perform route optimization and execute synchronized swarm attacks. In asymmetric battlefield conditions, the KarguFPV Kamikaze Drone adds another layer of deterrence, offering operator-controlled real-time imagery and the ability to neutralize enemy elements with anti-personnel or armor-piercing warheads. With a 10-kilometer mission range, over 20 minutes of endurance in kamikaze mode and speeds up to 160 km/h, KarguFPV continues to enhance the operational capabilities of the Turkish Armed Forces as part of STM’s expanding UAV ecosystem.