HAVELSAN is one of Türkiye’s leading defence and technology companies, specialising in software-based solutions for command and control, simulation, autonomous systems, and digital transformation. With a strong presence across naval, land, air, and cyber domains, the company continues to expand its footprint in international markets. In an interview with Arabian Defence, Şevket ÜNAL, Vice President, Business Development and Marketing at HAVELSAN, discusses the growing importance of multi-domain operations, AI-enabled combat systems, autonomous land platforms, and digital transformation. He also highlights the company’s expanding global presence and its future focus on unmanned and counter-drone technologies, driven by HAVELSAN’s strengths in software, integration, and simulation.
HAVELSAN’s solutions increasingly reflect integration across land, sea, air, and cyber domains. How important is a multi-domain approach in today’s operational environment?
Multi-domain operations are especially required for smaller countries where the size of forces is limited.
For larger countries like Türkiye, where you have significant forces across air, land, and naval domains, multi-domain integration is still important. However, these forces often operate with their own systems, and managing everything from a single centre becomes a challenge due to the scale.
When you look at smaller countries, where both the geographical size and force structure are limited, a multi-domain approach becomes much more critical. It allows them to see the air picture, land picture, and naval picture together within one operational environment at the headquarters level.
This makes operations much easier. They can have better control over their assets, access their inventory more quickly, and utilise and guide their forces more efficiently.
For larger countries, while a combined picture can exist at a higher level, commanding a very large number of forces from a single centre remains a complex challenge.
ADVENT-AI is one of HAVELSAN’s key highlights this year. How is AI-driven decision support transforming naval operations?
ADVENT is our flagship combat management system software. It is already deployed in more than nine countries, including a European country, Romania, and across regions from Asia to Latin America. It is a highly capable, network-enabled system, and we continuously add new features and functions to it especially in the area of artificial intelligence.
AI is everywhere now, so it also has to be part of modern combat systems. The main objective is to increase the efficiency of naval platforms. All sensors and weapon systems onboard need to be utilised in the most efficient way, and without mistakes. Since human operators can make errors, technology needs to support them, and this is where AI comes in.
We are embedding our operational knowledge, maintenance experience, and system data into our own domain-specific large language model. This allows the system to learn and continuously improve. It supports operations, maintenance, and sustainability, and helps generate a clearer technical picture of the maritime environment.
We already have features such as live assistance and support for preventive maintenance of onboard sensors integrated into the system. These capabilities are actively being used. In the future, more operational and warfare-related functions will also be supported by ADVENT AI.
However, there are still limits. Fully autonomous engagement is not something we are pursuing at this stage, and there are regulatory considerations as well. The focus is on supporting commanders in decision-making and improving situational awareness. With ADVENT-AI, the aim is to make the job of commanders and decision-makers onboard much easier.
BARKAN 3 represents your next-generation autonomous land capability. What operational gaps is this platform designed to address?
We started working on unmanned systems a few years ago, when we saw that the future would increasingly involve unmanned capabilities across air, land, and sea. Based on this, we began developing tracked and wheeled unmanned systems.
We have already successfully deployed BARKAN 1 and BARKAN 2 with the Turkish Armed Forces. However, requirements have continued to evolve. There is a demand for systems that are bigger, faster, and capable of operating in more challenging environments.
BARKAN 3 has been developed in response to these needs. It offers increased speed and mobility, as it is not only expected to move with troops but also operate ahead of them, conducting reconnaissance and surveillance missions. It is equipped with more sensors, providing greater situational awareness, and allows integration of different weapon systems.
In addition, anti-jamming capabilities have been incorporated. The design and development are based on the operational requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces and the conditions of Turkish terrain. At the same time, we have the capability to adapt and customise these systems for other countries, taking into account different terrains, climates, threat environments, and operational needs.
HAVELSAN recently partnered with Turkish Aerospace Industries to implement the KOVAN platform for its digital transformation. Could you elaborate on the strategic importance of this collaboration?
HAVELSAN is primarily a software development company, but we also provide civil solutions. One of these is our own next-generation resource management platform, KOVAN, which is an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system fully developed and coded by HAVELSAN.
ERPis now a key tool for large organizations. It improves information sharing and coordination among business units. ERP integrates business processes across different departments. As part of the collaboration you mentioned, Turkish Aerospace Industries has selected certain modules of this ERP to be deployed within its management systems. KOVAN, is a largely indigenous solution and reflects our capability in enterprise software. This system helps manage internal processes reliably and smoothly
The announcement during this exhibition focused on Turkish Aerospace Industries, but the platform has already been deployed across nearly 20 institutions in Türkiye. These include both government and private organisations, although most are from the public sector.
This reflects the growing adoption of KOVAN and its role in supporting digital transformation across different institutions.
How is HAVELSAN positioning itself in international markets, particularly in regions like the Middle East and Africa?
We have structured our activities across six regions: Asia-Pacific, Central Asia, North Asia (including countries like Japan), Africa, Latin America, and NATO/EU countries. We approach each region based on its specific requirements.
In the Asia-Pacific region, for example, we have strong references in the naval domain, particularly in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. At the same time, we are not limited to naval systems, we are also very active in simulation and training. We provide simulators for land, air, and naval platforms, including both rotary- and fixed-wing systems.
We also engage with our partners globally in areas such as command and control, simulation, and autonomous systems. Autonomous platforms, especially unmanned surface vehicles developed with Turkish shipyards, are gaining increasing traction. Our UAV solutions are also being offered internationally, with some already sold to different countries and others under negotiation.
In NATO and European markets, the demand is more focused on software-based solutions, such as ERP systems and tactical data link management systems. We have already delivered the Tactical Data Link Management Center (TDL MC) Network Planning Software, a critical component of NATO’s modern Command, Control, and Communications (C3) architecture, for integration into NATO’s inventory. This development represents an important step that demonstrates the global relevance of HAVELSAN’s advanced software and systems engineering capabilities within the international defence ecosystem.
Looking ahead, what are HAVELSAN’s key priorities for future growth and innovation?
Recent conflicts have clearly demonstrated the growing importance of unmanned systems. Drones are becoming smaller, faster, more efficient, and more cost-effective, and they are increasingly capable of overwhelming traditional defence systems.
As a result, both drone and counter-drone technologies will be a major focus area. We are seeing a shift toward autonomous systems capable of detecting, identifying, and engaging targets with minimal human intervention.
At the same time, there is an equally strong need to develop effective countermeasures against such systems. The future lies in this balance between offensive and defensive autonomous capabilities.
While large platforms such as naval vessels and armoured systems will continue to play a role, the scale of drone-based operations, often involving hundreds or thousands of units, will redefine battlefield dynamics.
HAVELSAN’s strength lies in software, integration, and simulation. We are platform-independent and can work with a wide range of partners globally. Our focus is on delivering intelligent, integrated solutions that enhance operational effectiveness while reducing risk to human life.
