Asisguard, a technology firm in Ankara, Turkey that specializes in military technology, has developed a drone called Songar equipped with machine gun that can hit targets with high precision and can fire massive amount of bullets.
The drone's powerful machine gun can fire single shots or 15-round bursts and carry 200 rounds of ammunition. The machine gun will be equipped to fire 5.56 x 45mm NATO class bullets.
Eight rotating blades can propel the 25-kilogram drone to fly as high as 1.7 miles above the ground and travel up to six miles. According to its developers, the drone can hit specified targets as small as six inches from a distance of 650 feet, thanks to its laser sighting system. It has robotic braces to keep its balance when recoiling and firing.
Songar drones can be flown in groups of up to three, all of which can be operated by a single controller. The drone can be used at night with its high-tech vision system that has a range of 10 kilometers. The controller picks the target by putting cross hairs on the screen of the remote control. The drone, of course, can also be used for surveillance and scouting missions.
During the announcement of the project at the International Defense Industry Fair in Turkey, Asisguard described Songarn as the "first Turkish-made automatic shooting stabilized drone." The Turkish military will be the first client to purchase the Songar drones.
Drones are dangerous and advantageous
"Drones are extremely hard to stop. There is a concern that armed groups could copy the technology and produce their own improvised versions," said Robert Bunker at the U.S. Army's Strategic Studies Institute in Pennsylvania. "Songar may also open up new uses for drones."
Drones are one of the leading technological innovations when it comes to counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency. Drones can be classified into three: tactical, strategic and operational.
Tactical drones are low altitude, short range aircraft that flies only at a height of 20 miles or less. These drones are commonly used by police forces in developed countries for crowd control and border surveillance.
Strategic drones are the ones used for long-range intelligence missions on enemy territories. Some models of this drone can fly for 40 hours, in a height of 20,000 meters above sea level and travel as far as 3,000 nautical miles.
Operational drones are the ones deployed to combat for reconnaissance and attack purposes.
Having drones for battle is advantageous as it only emits low noise, allowing it to complete intelligence operations without being detected. It can also cover an area longer than a manned aircraft.
In addition, they can get close to their targets in order to obtain accurate information of the enemies. Lastly, they can be sent to delicate missions that can be dangerous for manned aircraft.
Turkey’s massive military arsenal
By the time the drone comes into full operation in the Turkish military, it will empower the country's total aircraft strength that already has over 1,000 aircraft fighters. This is composed of around 200 fighter aircraft, 80 transport aircraft, 276 training aircraft and 497 helicopters.
For 2021, Turkish forces are considered the 11th strongest military in the world. It has 355,000 active military personnel and reservists of around 380,000. This ranks the country as 15th in the world in terms of number of military personnel and 17th when in comes to reservists.
Their expanding military power can be attributed to their military spending, which has an annual budget of $19 billion. In 2019, the country spent 1.89 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.
Turkey, along the with the U.S., is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and it has the second most powerful military force in the organization, after the U.S.
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