STM, Türkiye’s national engineering power at sea, announced that the sea tests of the Unmanned Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (IOSA) “STM NETA”, which it developed with domestic and national resources, are continuing successfully. The primary mission of STM NETA, which has started sea tests only six months after its introduction, will be the detection of mines in the Turkish Navy.
Native Protector in the Depths of the Blue Homeland
STM has developed a national İOSA, combining its deep experience in the military maritime field with its competencies in autonomous systems and command control engineering, entirely with its own resources. The introduction of STM NETA 300, the first member of this important project named “STM NETA”, attracted great attention at the SAHA EXPO Fair on October 22, 2024.
Rapid Development and First Contract
As a result of intensive R&D work, STM NETA 300 successfully completed the pool tests shortly after its introduction and then moved on to the sea tests phase. The national İOSA, which received full marks in the sea tests conducted in the depths of the Blue Homeland, is preparing to serve in the Turkish Navy by signing its first domestic sales contract in the near future.
Reassuring Statements from STM General Manager
STM General Manager Özgür Güleryüz emphasized that STM is Türkiye’s leading organization in the field of military maritime and autonomous systems, and said, “The sea tests of the first member of our national unmanned autonomous underwater vehicle family, STMNETA300, which we presented to the Blue Homeland by combining our marine engineering, autonomous and command control capabilities, are continuing successfully. Following the pool tests, we successfully completed all sensor, camera and autonomous navigation trials in the sea tests we conducted and moved on to the performance tests phase of the system. STM NETA 300 will primarily serve in the detection of mines in the Turkish Navy.”
Güleryüz stated that they will expand this important journey that started with STM NETA 300 with medium and large class unmanned underwater vehicles that can perform larger and deeper water operations in the future, and that they will produce unmanned systems that will provide a wide range of services from underwater security to mine detection with the technologies they develop in this field. He added that he believes that the STM NETA family will increase deterrence in the Blue Homeland and achieve international success by being exported to friendly and allied countries.
Features of STM NETA 300
The name of the “STM NETA” family comes from the term “NETA”, which means “proper, safe and always ready” in maritime. Developed by STM engineers with domestic and national resources, the STM NETA 300 can be easily carried by two people thanks to its compact structure and modular design. The vehicle, which can operate at depths of up to 300 meters, can reach a maximum speed of 5 knots and is equipped with a battery that can operate for up to 24 hours. The STM NETA 300 will make significant contributions to the Mine Countermeasure (MKT) Operation at a depth of 300 meters. With its autonomous use concept, it scans sea areas with mine danger with side-scan sonar and gap-filling sonar, allowing the user to quickly and effectively detect, classify and identify mines or mine-like objects. The vehicle also has a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) integration option to achieve a wider scanning area and high horizontal resolution.
Wide range of uses
Easily launched from any surface platform and quickly deployed to the mission area, STM NETA 300 can provide significant support to search and rescue (SAR) operations by scanning large areas. Thanks to its side-scan sonar and sensitive navigation systems, it can obtain high-accuracy data in the detection of targets and underwater wrecks. STM NETA 300 offers a wide range of uses in both military and civilian areas with different and durable configuration options ranging from the basic configuration of 70 kg to 85 kg. While it can take on tasks such as intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, rapid environmental assessment, anti-submarine operations, explosive ordnance disposal and port defense in military operations, it can successfully perform various tasks such as seabed and environmental assessment, pipeline inspection and observation, geophysical research and observation, examination of offshore renewable energy resources and marine archaeology in civilian areas.
