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Turkish defense firm Havelsan unveiled Barkan 3, the third-generation member of its unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) family, at SAHA 2026.
The company also showcased its AI-enabled ADVENT-AI combat management system and the OLAY sensor fusion drone detection project.
Havelsan described the systems as key building blocks of its "digital troops" concept, designed for joint swarming across ground, air and sea domains.
Barkan 3 has a maximum takeoff weight of one ton, measures 2.7 meters in length and 1.5 meters in width, carries up to 250 kilograms of payload, including a 12.7mm weapon system, and reaches a maximum speed of 25 km/h with five hours of endurance at full load.
Its design advances include a 360-degree AI-supported perception layer combining data from multiple sensors, GNSS-denied navigation capability, communication resilience under electronic warfare conditions and an "auto-return" function that uses AI to memorize a traveled route and navigate back to base autonomously.
"The vehicle is designed to move to farther distances over more rugged and steeper terrain. It has greater ground clearance, designed to clear obstacles of 35 centimeters easily," Havelsan CEO Mehmet Akif Nacar told Türkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency (AA).
He also noted that Barkan 3 can carry and manage unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a payload, coordinating their operations from the field.
A contract amendment covering the Barkan 3 configuration was signed with the Defense Industries Secretariat (SSB) at SAHA 2026.
A serial production contract for Barkan 2 has already been signed.
Havelsan Vice President for International Business Development Sevket Unal told Breaking Defense that field trials of mixed swarms, combining Barkan UGVs and Havelsan UAVs, including Baha and Bozbey, had already been conducted with eight units and that this capability was "ready for deployment" in 2026.
"The future will be tens of units, smaller, faster, highly efficient systems swarming in the vehicle segment or the UAV," he said, adding that joint swarming between UAVs and unmanned surface vessels was also being developed.
Unal said the company was expanding its international presence across the Gulf, Mediterranean, North Africa and Asia Pacific and planned to open an office in Saudi Arabia within two months, with Kuwait potentially to follow.
Havelsan also unveiled ADVENT-AI at SAHA 2026 in collaboration with the Turkish Naval Forces Command's ARMERKOM, presenting the AI-enhanced evolution of its ADVENT combat management system.
ADVENT-AI processes sensor tracks in real time using anomaly detection algorithms, provides visual detection and classification in EW-disrupted environments, synthesizes multi-source data into a single AI-supported tactical picture and introduces predictive support functions for engagement phase estimation.
"Our focus with ADVENT-AI is straightforward: helping operators make faster and more reliable decisions in demanding operational environments. We understand artificial intelligence as a way to support human judgment, not replace it," Nacar said.
The system features a voice-assisted interface for natural speech commands and is built on a modular architecture for progressive integration across the ADVENT ecosystem and multiple platforms, including unmanned naval systems (USVs).
A contract for the OLAY, Event-Based Imaging Circuit and Imaging Unit Project was signed between the Defense Industries Secretariat and Havelsan Technology Radar at SAHA 2026.
The project will develop event-based camera technology combined with multi-sensor architecture and AI algorithms to detect drones, FPV systems and low-observable missiles at greater effective ranges than conventional imaging systems.
"Drones have become a very serious threat. Not only drones, but various missiles and drones that cannot be detected by conventional imaging systems have started to pose a threat to critical facilities," HTR CEO Mustafa Ozcelik told AA.
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) also announced at SAHA 2026 that it had selected Havelsan's KOVAN Next Generation Business Management System to digitally transform its human resources processes for approximately 16,000 personnel. It will cover performance management, career management, and recruitment within a single integrated platform.
The contract was signed by Havelsan CEO Nacar and TAI CEO Mehmet Demiroglu.
"With the integration of KOVAN into our processes, we will be managing our data with a national software system," Demiroglu said.
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