STM Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade Inc., one of the leading companies of the Turkish defense industry, continues to demonstrate its capabilities in unmanned autonomous underwater technologies in different mission environments.
STM NETA 300, a lightweight unmanned autonomous underwater vehicle developed by STM with national resources, carried out underwater exploration around Güvercin Island in Antalya's Kaş district.
STM NETA 300, which carries out search and rescue and shipwreck detection and diagnosis activities in the Mediterranean region, which attracts attention with its rich underwater life and shipwrecks, scanned the underwater environment with its advanced sonar systems and high-resolution imaging capabilities.
The national underwater vehicle, which imaged the sunken tank in the region during its autonomous reconnaissance activity, completed its mission successfully.
With this activity, STM NETA 300 once again demonstrated its underwater exploration, object detection and imaging capabilities in real sea conditions.
"We are developing unmanned technologies that will make a difference in naval operations"
STM General Manager Özgür Güleryüz stated that unmanned naval systems are taking on an increasingly critical role in the naval operations of the future and said:
"The understanding of security at sea is undergoing a significant transformation with the development of autonomous systems. As STM, we are developing game-changing systems in this field by combining our deep-rooted engineering experience in military maritime with artificial intelligence and autonomy technologies.
The autonomous reconnaissance mission of STM NETA 300, the first member of our unmanned marine systems family, which we developed in a short time, in the Mediterranean, the heart of the blue homeland, reveals the level our national engineering capabilities have reached underwater.
Following NETA, we are developing solutions for different operational needs, ranging from underwater to above-water, with our product family that we expanded with our unmanned submarine TENGIZ and our kamikaze unmanned marine vehicle STM YAKTU.
We will continue to develop new technologies that will make a difference in the naval operational environment of the future with our autonomous naval systems; "We will continue to strengthen the operational capabilities of friendly and allied countries, especially our Turkish Naval Forces, at sea."
The tank captured by STM NETA 300 was placed underwater off the coast of Kaş's Güvercin Island in 2017 to contribute to diving tourism and create an artificial reef, after completing its useful life in the Turkish Armed Forces inventory.
Autonomously detected mine threats in the exercise
STM NETA 300 took part in the front force operation carried out within the scope of Exercise TURNAs-2026 in Antalya in October.
The vehicle, which autonomously detects and diagnoses mines and mine-like underwater threats on the transfer route with its advanced sonar systems and high-resolution sensors, has successfully completed its mission by contributing to the navigational safety of the main maritime elements.
During the exercise, the system also performed scanning and detection activities for the security of critical facilities and inspection of pipelines within the scope of seabed warfare.
It can operate at a depth of 300 meters for up to 24 hours.
Taking its name from the maritime expression NETA, meaning "neat, safe and always ready", STM NETA 300 can be carried by two people thanks to its compact and modular design.
The vehicle, which can operate at a depth of 300 meters for up to 24 hours and reach a speed of 5 knots, supports the detection, classification and diagnosis of mines and mine-like objects with its advanced sonar systems.
With its autonomous use concept, the national IOSA scans sea areas where there is a mine danger with side scanning sonar and gap filling sonar, allowing the user to detect, classify and diagnose mines or mine-like objects as quickly and effectively as possible.
The vehicle also has a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) integration option to obtain a wider scanning area and high horizontal resolution.
STM NETA 300; intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, mine countermeasures (MKT Operation) and port defense in the military field; In the civilian field, it can be used in different tasks such as seabed research, inspection of pipelines, inspection of renewable energy facilities and marine archaeology.
STM NETA 300, for which the first domestic sales contract has been signed, will serve within the Turkish Naval Forces.
