An undisclosed African customer has acquired BOYGA ammunition drop unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Turkey’s STM.
STM (Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret AŞ) said the first export contract for the BOYGA has been concluded with an unnamed African country, with deliveries scheduled for completion in 2024.
BOYGA is the newest member of STM’s tactical mini UAV product family, and is able to deploy an 81 mm mortar round “with full accuracy thanks to its advanced ballistic estimation algorithm. BOYGA can be used effectively in counter-terrorism and asymmetric warfare settings, and has a 30-minute airtime while laden with mortar ammunition,” the company said. The BOYGA platform can reach altitudes of 3 000 meters and has a mission range from 6.5 to 10 km, while its 17 kg weight allows it to be transported by a single operator.
The integration of the ammunition system was carried out in collaboration with MKE (Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation), which mainly produces equipment for the Turkish Armed Forces, such as the ammunition for small arms and heavy weapons, artillery systems, aerial bombs etc.
BOYGA entered Turkish Armed Forces service in 2022, where, according to STM, it has been actively involved in the fight against terrorism, cross-border operations and international exercises, most recently, the EFES-2024 Exercise, “during which it hit the designated targets with pinpoint accuracy.”
“The Ukraine-Russia war has once again shown how these drones and ammunition-dropping UAVs are a game-changer in the field. BOYGA provides users with significant advantages in the field, making use of its indigenous software, its specially developed ammunition and its prediction algorithm. BOYGA can hit targets with full precision from high altitudes, making it difficult to be detected by the enemy,” said Özgür Güleryüz, General Manager of STM.
Güleryüz added that the KARGU rotary wing loitering munition system is part of its mini tactical UAV family and since the KARGU was taken into Turkish military service in 2018, it has been exported to more than ten countries. “Then, two years ago, we put TOGAN into the service of our Army as the reconnaissance member of our UAV family, and subsequently exported it to two African countries.
“Most recently, in 2023 we concluded a contract for the first export of ALPAGU, our fixed-wing loitering munition system (strike UAV). In the wake of all these achievements, we have entered into a contract for the first international sale of BOYGA to an African country, thus achieving significant success in exporting all members of our tactical mini UAV family, which we have developed and which have proven themselves successfully in the field. We are also in talks for further exports of our UAVs, which are proving to be surprisingly effective in the field, and have increased our production capacity in the field of mini UAVs to meet the demands of our army and friendly and allied nations.”
