The Turkish-made drones that are used primarily in search and rescue or mine detection operations are ready to enter Greek Armed Forces’ inventory with a signed preliminary agreement.
This would be the first time that the Greek army would use drones produced by the Turkish private sector, namely the Istanbul-based Assuva Defense.
Assuva managed to produce drones in the field of remote sensing technology with domestic resources, thanks to the works of Turkish engineers. It sold its drones to the Chinese army and Sri Lankan army before agreeing with a NATO member country.
Remzi Başbuğ, CEO of the company, said in media reports published Tuesday that they were preparing to sell a high-tech drone to a NATO and EU member army which were previously used by the Turkish army, another NATO ally.
“With an agreement we signed with the Greek Ministry of Defense a while ago, the preliminary acceptance for the 50 drones we produced was made. The two drones we sent successfully passed the tests carried out by the Greek army,” Başbuğ said.
The drones are set to mainly serve in the fields of air search and rescue operations and the detection of underground bunkers.
Başbuğ, stating that system production and delivery is a long-term process in the defense sector, said: “Assuva drones are the work of Turkish software engineers. They fly all with local hardware and software technologies. We are proud to produce the world's best devices for drone search, rescue and underground imaging.”
Assuva drones have special abilities especially for finding explosive mines from the air, he said, noting that the system provides 100% accurate results in a wide flight area up to a depth of 50 meters and a thousand meters' distance.
“We will soon complete the order for 50 drones to be used for underground tunnels, rooms and bunkers with thermal camera capabilities, and other military activities of the Greek army,” Başbuğ said.
The company has also opened representative offices in different countries even during the pandemic process, Sri Lanka being one of those countries.
Drones developed by Assuva engineers play a role in determining the location of hundreds of different types of explosives and mines from the air. Established at a time when terrorist groups accelerated their attacks against Turkish law enforcement units, the company drones took part in locating many chemicals from a long distance and other kinds of operations in Turkey.
