At IDEF 2025 Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi A.Ş., Mechanical and Chemical Industries Corporation, MKE in short, unveiled two versions of its Pirana autonomous surface vessels, another add-on to the company path towards autonomous systems
At the Istanbul exhibiting a wide area of the MKE stand was dedicated to Research and Development programmes, autonomous systems being at the core of this display. Among them two models of fast moving vessels could be seen.
Named Pirana, the two boats shared the same hull but the configuration was different. Both designed to bring havoc into enemy navies, one is a suicide boat, carrying a warhead, while the second features a single pod launcher capable to launch a missile or a loitering munition, and can therefore be rearmed, refuelled and reused, should it survive enemy retaliation.
A monohull architecture, the Pirana is 4.5 metres long, has a beam of 1.5 metres, and a mass of 1,200 kg. It is powered by a waterjet driven by a diesel engine, which allow a maximum speed around 40 knots. EDR On-Line understood that the company R&D is working at increasing the speed up to 50 knots. The Pirana operational range is 200 NM.
The design took into consideration stealthness; this is partly achieved thanks to the hull limited dimensions, and is further improved by the use of specific materials, mostly composite, and by geometries. The only protruding element is the mast, which carries on top the optronic sensor suite in a stabilised gimbal, as well as data-link antennas.
The suicide Pirana carries a 65-70 kg warhead of the tandem shaped charge type; although no data on the diameter of the main charge were provided, considering the boat dimensions this should be considerable, hence its penetration capacity must be more than sufficient to cope with the hardest targets. On the bow, at the front and on the sides, we find the system fuses, that would detonate the charge; these are quite probably proximity as well as point detonation, the mode being selected to generate the maximum damage, depending on the type of target.
The missile-armed Pirana hosts a one-cell launcher in the hull; hinged at the rear, it is raised in the launch position once the ASV has reached the right grids. The boat should host third-party launchers compatible in terms of dimensions and mass, however the presence on the same stand of a ground launcher for newly developed loitering munitions clearly indicated synergies between the two unmanned systems, operating respectively on the sea and in the air. EDR On-Line understood that the launcher version of the Pirana is capable to reach a slightly higher speed compared to the suicide version.
Both models are currently working in semi-autonomy, operators using a two-position console to control them. Of course MKE is actively working on increasing the level of autonomy. The Pirana system is already capable to operate in swarms, a single console being able to control up to four ASVs.
MKE told EDR On-Line that the suicide Pirana is now at TRL 8, all tests having been carried out at sea, including those with the active warhead, while the launcher version is still in the test phase, hence it is considered at TRL 7. The company claims that the latter version is a first for Turkey, and is the second such system to be developed worldwide, the first having been developed by Ukraine.
Photos by P. Valpolini