EJDERHA strengthens Türkiye’s layered defense against emerging threats

ANKARA

via ASELSAN on X.

Türkiye’s Land Forces Command has added ASELSAN’s EJDERHA system — meaning 'dragon' in Turkish — to its inventory, giving troops a new capability to neutralize electronically triggered improvised explosive devices and mini- and micro-UAV swarms using high-power electromagnetic waves.

ASELSAN describes EJDERHA as a counter-UAV system that disables targets by striking their electronic components with directed electromagnetic energy rather than conventional jamming.

The system is designed to let units operating in counterterrorism and field security missions deal with explosive devices remotely, without physical contact.

According to ASELSAN’s previously published technical descriptions, high-power electromagnetic systems can overload and damage electronic circuits, including receivers, processors and firing components.

EJDERHA is also intended to counter FPV drones and swarm-style attacks, a threat that has become increasingly prominent in modern battlefields.

ASELSAN CEO Ahmet Akyol said the system had been delivered for field use and would help protect Turkish soldiers on the ground.

In earlier public remarks, Akyol said EJDERHA had entered low-rate initial production and was expected to be deployed operationally this year.

The development came as another Turkish defense program also moved forward this week. Baykar shared footage of two Bayraktar KIZILELMA unmanned combat aircraft conducting a test flight with ASELSAN’s KARAT infrared search and track, or IRST, system.

ASELSAN says KARAT is a passive IRST system developed for manned-unmanned fighter aircraft, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and UAVs, and is designed for infrared search, detection and tracking of airborne targets, including low-observable new-generation aircraft. That gives the KIZILELMA program another step forward in onboard sensing and target tracking.