Author: Mike Maghakian

The new Kargı kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the Turkish defense industry was showcased for the first time as part of the EFES-2022 military drill.

One of the largest planned exercises of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), the EFES-2022 field exercise is ongoing in the Seferihisar district of western Izmir with the participation of friendly and allied country elements.

Within the scope of the exercise, local defense industry company Lentatek is exhibiting the UAVs it has developed with domestic and national resources.

The Kargı project was initiated by Lentatek with the support of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK).

Kargı can suppress and destroy the radars of the enemy's integrated air defense and surface-to-air weapon systems. With preparations now complete, Lentatek is counting the days before the UAV enters serial production.

The ground systems, navigation and automatic flight control system design and production were all developed domestically, as was the system's software.

In 2018, Kargı made its maiden flight with Lentatek's nationally developed aircraft and ground systems as a result of the localization of foreign components, which also applied to the RF seeker and destruction system, the flight engine and launch engine (rocket engine), link system, propeller and fuel tank subsystems, which were all developed within the country as well.

The Kargı project is being carried out under the leadership of Lentatek in cooperation with other leading defense industry companies, namely Aselsan, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and TÜBITAK’s Defense Industries Research and Development Institute (SAGE).

It bears the PG50 engine developed by TAI’s engine producing subsidiary TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI).

The aircraft is launched from canisters, which are also used as storage, thanks to the rocket engine. The Kargı forces the air defense radars to remain passive by navigating the enemy airspace for a long time and will be able to find its target and successfully destroy it with the RF seeker and destruction system.

The kamikaze UAV is expected to replace the Israeli-made Harpy already in the TSK's inventory.

The IAI Harpy is a loitering munition produced by Israel Aerospace Industries and is designed to attack radar systems and optimized for the suppression of enemy air defenses.

It carries a high explosive warhead.

The Harpy has been sold to several countries, including South Korea, Turkey, India and China.

President Vahagn Khachatryan (center) briefs members of the Russian Armenian community

President Vahagn Khachatryan said on Friday that Russia has admitted that it had not fulfilled its obligation in its peacekeeping mission in Artsakh, which led to Azerbaijani forces breaching the line-of-contact and advancing their positions into the Parukh village in Artsakh’s Askeran Region.

Khachatryan was speaking to members of the Armenian community in Russia as he is in St. Petersburg to attend an international economic forum.

“I also took part in the discussions during those tense days and we showed a very tough position,” Khachatryan told the gathering. “As a result of that position, the Russian side finally admitted that there was a gap. Now they are conducting an internal investigation to understand the reason, but they admitted that they had not actually fulfilled their obligation,” the Armenian Service of RFE/RL reported on Friday.

Khachatryan said that at the time there was no need to address the matter publicly. He explained that during internal discussion the Russians admitted that the peacekeepers did not do what they should have done.

After weeks of attacks on the Parukh village, in late March, Azerbaijani forces breached the line-of-contact, which is under the Russian peacekeepers control, and advanced their positions into the village, from where they also set up positions on the strategic Karaglukh Heights.

At the time, Russia called on Azerbaijan to withdraw its troops from the area. However, local observers continue to observe that such a pull-back has not occurred and Azerbaijani forces continue to remain in the area.

“The situation is so tense there that even the people of Nagorno Karabakh have said that if the peacekeepers can not ensure our security, we will return to Armenia,” said Khachatryan, who explained that the Russian side has insisted that its peacekeepers are obligated to ensure the security and urged the population to not abandon the area.

Last week, while in Yerevan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that a resolution to the situation in Parukh was a key foreign policy priority for Russia, adding that such issues would be discussed within the context of delimiting and demarcating of borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Lavrov’s remarks set off a frenzy in Baku, which shot back by saying that the Parukh region has nothing to do with the demarcation process, since the village is located in Khojaly, which Azerbaijan is currently occupying.

Since then, the Russian foreign ministry has walked back Lavrov’s statements, with its spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Thursday saying that Parukh matter has no connection to the border demarcation process.

During his meeting with the Russian Armenian community, President Khachatryan insisted that based on the new developments, Yerevan should first advance the rights of the Armenians of Artsakh, and secure the final status of Nagorno Karabakh. Moreover, Khachatryan claimed, that the leadership of Artsakh agrees with this position.

Official Stepanakert has been clear in its position: the Karabakh conflict should be settled by ensuring Artsakh’s right to self-determination, which does not envision Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan.

Khachatryan claimed that when he met with Lavrov on June 9, Russia’s top diplomat supposedly told him that Moscow shares Yerevan’s position on the Parukh matter, which Khachatryan claimed Lavrov spoke about “in a special way” and thanked him for coming to that conclusion, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reported.