After being exported to customers in Africa and Central Asia, BAHA UAV has been introduced to the Turkish Armed Forces’ inventory after introducing the company’s BARKAN UGV. BAHA is a part of HAVELSAN’s Digital Troops concept, which includes a range of unmanned systems such as BARKAN UGV and SANCAR USV.
The UAV takes off vertically with electric engines and continues flight horizontally with a pusher propeller. Being able to carry a payload of five kilograms, BAHA can conduct ISR over the operation area for six hours with electro-optical systems. The UAV is classified as a sub-cloud.
BAHA was used during the disaster relief efforts after the 2023 Gaziantep-Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes by surveying the wreckages under harsh weather conditions. Mapping and imaging support from UAVs contributed considerably to search and rescue operations in the wreckage zones.
UAVs independent of the runway and capable of providing ISR support to the personnel on the ground can provide situational awareness, especially in the presence of asymmetric threats often encountered by the Turkish Armed Forces in Syria and Iraq.
Additionally, the potential of UAVs as scouts for field artillery was highlighted in the Russo-Ukrainian War, where both sides improved the accuracy of their bombardments by using both military and civilian UAVs of various sizes. This tactic extended to automatic grenade launchers being supported by small UAVs to give the target coordinates, allowing for mortar-like use of the weapons.
HAVELSAN BAHA UAV Enters Inventory with Turkish Army
