Turkish defense company Aselsan presented a wide range of its air defense systems at the IDEF-2025 exhibition held on July 24–27 in Istanbul.
However, what deserves particular attention are the company's low-cost solutions for countering drones, which may prove an effective counter to cheap expendable threats like the Shahed-136. Aselsan has three notable offerings in this area: Korkut, Şahin, and Gürz.
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Korkut
Korkut is a mass-produced, conventional air defense system by Aselsan, featuring a 35mm anti-aircraft gun. Defense Express has highlighted this system several times since 2021. Not only is it in service with the Turkish military but is also exported. Essentially, it is Türkiye's counterpart to the Skynex system, especially since the 35mm gun is a licensed version of the Oerlikon KDC-02.
Worth noting, Ukraine uses this system in its naval version — Gökdeniz — installed on its Ada-class corvettes.
There's also a self-propelled version — which is considered the base variant — on the FNSS ACV-30 chassis with a twin-barrel Korkut 150/35 turret, as well as other configurations. These include a single-barrel turret with simpler electro-optical targeting — Korkut 110/35S (formerly known as Göker) — and a traditional stationary air defense version, the Korkut 130/35.
All variants maintain an effective firing range of 4 km and a firing rate of up to 550 rounds per minute per barrel. A key feature of the system is its use of 35mm airburst ammunition, along with digital fire control and automated target tracking.
Şahin
Şahin is a rather unconventional anti-drone system developed by Aselsan. It employs an automatic grenade launcher that fires 40mm programmable airburst grenades. Compact in size, the system was first unveiled in 2022.
It features a fully digital fire control system with a modern optical sight and a surveillance radar. The specialized ATOM-series 40mm grenades have a fragmentation blast radius of 15 meters, and the stated effective range against drones is 700 meters. However, reliance on such unique ammunition may not always be an advantage.
Nevertheless, the system is interesting — especially since these programmable grenades are also integrated into Aselsan's SARP remote weapon station for light armored vehicles.
Gürz
Gürz 150, first introduced in 2023, is Aselsan's all-in-one, integrated air defense system. Mounted on a wheeled chassis, it combines a 35mm automatic cannon in a turret with missile launchers.
It uses Sungur (or Stinger) missiles to engage targets up to 8 km away and Göksur missiles — derived from the Bozdoğan air-to-air missile, similar to the AIM-9 — for targets up to 15 km. The system's situational awareness is provided by an AESA radar, and its accuracy benefits from the digital fire control system developed for Korkut.
At IDEF-2025, a smaller version named simply Gürz was also presented. This system is designed to act as a "guardian" for larger air defense systems. While intended to protect more powerful SAM units, it appears to be a fully capable standalone solution, integrated into a broader defense network.
Interestingly, this guardian is unmanned. The Gürz drone is tracked, armed with a machine gun, and equipped with two launch pods, each holding four Sungur missiles.
The concept is intriguing: after a SAM system takes position, it can deploy a swarm of such guardians to secure the immediate perimeter and serve as additional launch platforms within a unified control network.
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