Türkiye’s STM Delivers KARGU And ALPAGU Loitering Munitions To European NATO Country
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Turkish defence firm STM has exported its KARGU and ALPAGU loitering munitions to the armed forces of a country that is both a NATO and European Union member, the company confirmed on 16 January 2026. The deal matters because it brings Turkish-made autonomous strike drones directly into NATO land force inventories, with full integration onto armoured vehicles and existing command-and-control networks.
On 16 January 2026, Turkish defence company STM announced that its KARGU rotary-wing loitering munition and ALPAGU fixed-wing kamikaze UAV had been exported to the armed forces of a country that is both a NATO and European Union member. This contract, presented as an integrated autonomous systems project, covers not only the supply of the drones but also their integration on armoured vehicles and into the customer’s existing battle management and command-and-control architecture. In a European context marked by the war in Ukraine and the rapid spread of loitering munitions, this first export of KARGU and ALPAGU to a NATO-EU military is strategically significant because it inserts a Turkish family of combat-proven strike UAVs directly into the alliance’s land forces. For the unnamed customer, the deal offers a rapid route to mature, man-portable precision strike capabilities at a time when domestic production lines are under pressure.
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Turkish defense firm STM has exported its KARGU and ALPAGU loitering munitions to a NATO and European Union member, marking the first integration of these Turkish strike drones onto allied armoured vehicles and command-and-control networks (Picture Source: STM)
According to STM, the agreement goes beyond a classic hardware sale. The company will adapt KARGU and ALPAGU for use both as dismounted systems and as effectors mounted on armoured vehicles, with the drones controlled from vehicle-borne launchers and integrated into the nation’s battle management software. This dual employment profile allows mechanised units to launch loitering munitions from under armour while retaining the option to deploy them at squad or platoon level by individual soldiers. The contract comes on top of a broader export trajectory: by mid-2025, the armour-piercing version of KARGU had already secured a second international export contract, building on an earlier sale, while interest in KARGU and other STM mini-UAVs was reported from more than ten countries across three continents. With the new NATO-EU customer, STM now states that its tactical UAV family, including KARGU, ALPAGU, TOGAN, BOYGA and ALPAGUT, has reached 15 countries on four continents, consolidating Türkiye’s position as a supplier of complete unmanned systems rather than just components.
KARGU is a man-portable, multi-rotor loitering munition conceived in the mid-2010s to provide tactical ISR and precision strike for ground forces. The quad-rotor air vehicle weighs about 7–7.7 kg in combat configuration and can be readied for launch in less than a minute by a single operator. Once airborne, it can loiter for roughly 25–30 minutes at altitudes between about 50 and 500 m, with a mission range of up to 10 km, depending on whether an external or onboard antenna is used. Electro-optical and infrared cameras with 10× optical zoom, advanced image stabilisation and AI-assisted image processing enable day-night detection, tracking and classification of static or moving targets, while engagement remains under “man-in-the-loop” control.
The munition is reusable when the warhead is not detonated, thanks to mission abort and return-to-home modes, which is a key differentiator from purely expendable systems. KARGU can carry either anti-personnel or shaped-charge armour-piercing warheads on the same platform; STM completed the integration of the armour-piercing payload in 2024 after intensive R&D and field trials, and this variant now provides enhanced effects against light armoured vehicles and hardened firing positions. Beyond the kinetic payload, KARGU has been developed with GNSS-independent dive-attack capability through a dedicated pod and software, and STM is progressing a passive RF seeker that allows the platform to detect, localise and home on hostile emitters such as air-defence radars, electronic warfare systems or FPV-drone controllers, adding a cost-effective electronic-warfare suppression role.
Operationally, KARGU entered service with the Turkish Armed Forces in 2018 for counter-terrorism and cross-border operations and was introduced on the export market in 2021; by 2025, the armour-piercing configuration had secured its second international contract with a user already operating the anti-personnel version, confirming confidence in the modular warhead concept.
ALPAGU sits at the lighter end of STM’s loitering munition spectrum and complements KARGU with a tube-launched, fixed-wing profile optimised for rapid engagement of high-value, soft targets. Weighing under 2 kg, with a wingspan of 883 mm, a length of 653 mm and a diameter of 105 mm, the munition is carried, launched and controlled by a single operator using a shoulder-fired tube and a ruggedised ground control station qualified to MIL-STD-810G. After launch, ALPAGU deploys its wings, climbs to around 80–200 m above ground level and can loiter for up to 15 minutes within an 8 km line-of-sight envelope.
An EO/IR camera and embedded, real-time image-processing algorithms based on deep learning allow the system to locate, track and classify targets by day or night, again under man-in-the-loop supervision for weapon release. The air vehicle carries an approximately 270 g anti-personnel warhead optimised for area effects against light targets, with an electronic proximity fuze and a safety chain compliant with standards such as MIL-STD-331. The complete system can be set up in about a minute by one soldier, enabling “shoot-and-scoot” tactics with a minimal logistics footprint. Network-centric design and a mesh communications link allow a single control station to supervise multiple ALPAGU rounds and coordinate launches from land vehicles, small vessels or airborne platforms, enabling saturating salvos, decoy missions and cooperative tactics such as pincer attacks against mobile targets. STM announced on 24 October 2025 that ALPAGU had completed acceptance trials and formally entered Türkiye’s inventory, after having already achieved a first export in 2023, an unusual sequence that underlines early international confidence in the design.
For the NATO-EU customer, the combined fielding of KARGU and ALPAGU delivers a layered, highly mobile precision-strike package at the tactical level. KARGU, with its VTOL profile, hovering capability and reusability, provides persistent surveillance and controlled engagement in complex environments such as dense urban areas or mountainous terrain, where vertical approach paths and obstacle avoidance are critical. Its armour-piercing payload and emerging RF-seeker option give mechanised and infantry units an organic tool to neutralise light armoured vehicles, firing points and critical emitters without calling in higher-echelon fires. ALPAGU, by contrast, is expendable and optimised for speed, low signature and rapid salvo fire: its light weight, one-minute deployment and tube launch make it suitable for company or battalion-level use against command posts, weapon teams or vehicles that present only short engagement windows.
Once mounted on armoured vehicles or unmanned ground platforms, both systems significantly extend the reach of those platforms beyond direct-fire range, allowing a troop or company to project sensor-shooter effects 8–10 km beyond the forward edge of its formation with organic assets. KARGU’s ability to operate in GNSS-degraded environments, combined with AI-assisted guidance and multi-vehicle control across both systems, directly reflects lessons from current conflicts where massed jamming, FPV-drone swarms and dispersed enemy formations have made resilient, distributed strike capabilities a priority.
At the strategic level, this export marks an important step in the evolution of Europe’s relationship with loitering munitions and highly automated weapon systems. It confirms that at least one EU and NATO member is prepared to integrate Turkish-designed, AI-enabled loitering munitions not just as stand-alone products, but as tightly coupled components of its battle-management and armoured-vehicle ecosystem. This choice diversifies the customer’s supplier base beyond traditional Western manufacturers while simultaneously deepening dependence on a non-EU partner for both hardware and critical software.
For Türkiye and STM, the contract fits into a broader trajectory that already includes naval exports, such as the AOR+ logistics ships for Portugal, and underscores the country’s ambition to position itself as a provider of complete, multi-domain systems, naval, land and air, that comply with NATO standards. In the wider European picture, the arrival of KARGU and ALPAGU on a NATO-EU battlefield illustrates how demand for agile, man-portable precision strike is currently outpacing indigenous European production, opening space for Turkish solutions even as the EU pursues greater strategic autonomy in defence procurement.
By entering service with a NATO and EU land force and being integrated directly onto armoured vehicles and national battle-management networks, KARGU and ALPAGU move from being regional Turkish innovations to instruments that will shape European land-warfare practice in the coming years. The way this unnamed customer employs, regulates and doctrinally frames these systems, from platoon-level ambushes and counter-battery missions to networked, multi-domain kill chains, will be closely watched by other allies seeking to combine the operational gains of agile, AI-assisted loitering munitions with the legal, ethical and political constraints that inevitably accompany them. As more European armies evaluate similar capabilities, this first NATO-EU integration of KARGU and ALPAGU is likely to serve as both a technical reference and a political test case for the role of Turkish unmanned systems within the alliance.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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Turkish defence firm STM has exported its KARGU and ALPAGU loitering munitions to the armed forces of a country that is both a NATO and European Union member, the company confirmed on 16 January 2026. The deal matters because it brings Turkish-made autonomous strike drones directly into NATO land force inventories, with full integration onto armoured vehicles and existing command-and-control networks.
On 16 January 2026, Turkish defence company STM announced that its KARGU rotary-wing loitering munition and ALPAGU fixed-wing kamikaze UAV had been exported to the armed forces of a country that is both a NATO and European Union member. This contract, presented as an integrated autonomous systems project, covers not only the supply of the drones but also their integration on armoured vehicles and into the customer’s existing battle management and command-and-control architecture. In a European context marked by the war in Ukraine and the rapid spread of loitering munitions, this first export of KARGU and ALPAGU to a NATO-EU military is strategically significant because it inserts a Turkish family of combat-proven strike UAVs directly into the alliance’s land forces. For the unnamed customer, the deal offers a rapid route to mature, man-portable precision strike capabilities at a time when domestic production lines are under pressure.
Turkish defense firm STM has exported its KARGU and ALPAGU loitering munitions to a NATO and European Union member, marking the first integration of these Turkish strike drones onto allied armoured vehicles and command-and-control networks (Picture Source: STM)
According to STM, the agreement goes beyond a classic hardware sale. The company will adapt KARGU and ALPAGU for use both as dismounted systems and as effectors mounted on armoured vehicles, with the drones controlled from vehicle-borne launchers and integrated into the nation’s battle management software. This dual employment profile allows mechanised units to launch loitering munitions from under armour while retaining the option to deploy them at squad or platoon level by individual soldiers. The contract comes on top of a broader export trajectory: by mid-2025, the armour-piercing version of KARGU had already secured a second international export contract, building on an earlier sale, while interest in KARGU and other STM mini-UAVs was reported from more than ten countries across three continents. With the new NATO-EU customer, STM now states that its tactical UAV family, including KARGU, ALPAGU, TOGAN, BOYGA and ALPAGUT, has reached 15 countries on four continents, consolidating Türkiye’s position as a supplier of complete unmanned systems rather than just components.
KARGU is a man-portable, multi-rotor loitering munition conceived in the mid-2010s to provide tactical ISR and precision strike for ground forces. The quad-rotor air vehicle weighs about 7–7.7 kg in combat configuration and can be readied for launch in less than a minute by a single operator. Once airborne, it can loiter for roughly 25–30 minutes at altitudes between about 50 and 500 m, with a mission range of up to 10 km, depending on whether an external or onboard antenna is used. Electro-optical and infrared cameras with 10× optical zoom, advanced image stabilisation and AI-assisted image processing enable day-night detection, tracking and classification of static or moving targets, while engagement remains under “man-in-the-loop” control.
The munition is reusable when the warhead is not detonated, thanks to mission abort and return-to-home modes, which is a key differentiator from purely expendable systems. KARGU can carry either anti-personnel or shaped-charge armour-piercing warheads on the same platform; STM completed the integration of the armour-piercing payload in 2024 after intensive R&D and field trials, and this variant now provides enhanced effects against light armoured vehicles and hardened firing positions. Beyond the kinetic payload, KARGU has been developed with GNSS-independent dive-attack capability through a dedicated pod and software, and STM is progressing a passive RF seeker that allows the platform to detect, localise and home on hostile emitters such as air-defence radars, electronic warfare systems or FPV-drone controllers, adding a cost-effective electronic-warfare suppression role.
Operationally, KARGU entered service with the Turkish Armed Forces in 2018 for counter-terrorism and cross-border operations and was introduced on the export market in 2021; by 2025, the armour-piercing configuration had secured its second international contract with a user already operating the anti-personnel version, confirming confidence in the modular warhead concept.
ALPAGU sits at the lighter end of STM’s loitering munition spectrum and complements KARGU with a tube-launched, fixed-wing profile optimised for rapid engagement of high-value, soft targets. Weighing under 2 kg, with a wingspan of 883 mm, a length of 653 mm and a diameter of 105 mm, the munition is carried, launched and controlled by a single operator using a shoulder-fired tube and a ruggedised ground control station qualified to MIL-STD-810G. After launch, ALPAGU deploys its wings, climbs to around 80–200 m above ground level and can loiter for up to 15 minutes within an 8 km line-of-sight envelope.
An EO/IR camera and embedded, real-time image-processing algorithms based on deep learning allow the system to locate, track and classify targets by day or night, again under man-in-the-loop supervision for weapon release. The air vehicle carries an approximately 270 g anti-personnel warhead optimised for area effects against light targets, with an electronic proximity fuze and a safety chain compliant with standards such as MIL-STD-331. The complete system can be set up in about a minute by one soldier, enabling “shoot-and-scoot” tactics with a minimal logistics footprint. Network-centric design and a mesh communications link allow a single control station to supervise multiple ALPAGU rounds and coordinate launches from land vehicles, small vessels or airborne platforms, enabling saturating salvos, decoy missions and cooperative tactics such as pincer attacks against mobile targets. STM announced on 24 October 2025 that ALPAGU had completed acceptance trials and formally entered Türkiye’s inventory, after having already achieved a first export in 2023, an unusual sequence that underlines early international confidence in the design.
For the NATO-EU customer, the combined fielding of KARGU and ALPAGU delivers a layered, highly mobile precision-strike package at the tactical level. KARGU, with its VTOL profile, hovering capability and reusability, provides persistent surveillance and controlled engagement in complex environments such as dense urban areas or mountainous terrain, where vertical approach paths and obstacle avoidance are critical. Its armour-piercing payload and emerging RF-seeker option give mechanised and infantry units an organic tool to neutralise light armoured vehicles, firing points and critical emitters without calling in higher-echelon fires. ALPAGU, by contrast, is expendable and optimised for speed, low signature and rapid salvo fire: its light weight, one-minute deployment and tube launch make it suitable for company or battalion-level use against command posts, weapon teams or vehicles that present only short engagement windows.
Once mounted on armoured vehicles or unmanned ground platforms, both systems significantly extend the reach of those platforms beyond direct-fire range, allowing a troop or company to project sensor-shooter effects 8–10 km beyond the forward edge of its formation with organic assets. KARGU’s ability to operate in GNSS-degraded environments, combined with AI-assisted guidance and multi-vehicle control across both systems, directly reflects lessons from current conflicts where massed jamming, FPV-drone swarms and dispersed enemy formations have made resilient, distributed strike capabilities a priority.
At the strategic level, this export marks an important step in the evolution of Europe’s relationship with loitering munitions and highly automated weapon systems. It confirms that at least one EU and NATO member is prepared to integrate Turkish-designed, AI-enabled loitering munitions not just as stand-alone products, but as tightly coupled components of its battle-management and armoured-vehicle ecosystem. This choice diversifies the customer’s supplier base beyond traditional Western manufacturers while simultaneously deepening dependence on a non-EU partner for both hardware and critical software.
For Türkiye and STM, the contract fits into a broader trajectory that already includes naval exports, such as the AOR+ logistics ships for Portugal, and underscores the country’s ambition to position itself as a provider of complete, multi-domain systems, naval, land and air, that comply with NATO standards. In the wider European picture, the arrival of KARGU and ALPAGU on a NATO-EU battlefield illustrates how demand for agile, man-portable precision strike is currently outpacing indigenous European production, opening space for Turkish solutions even as the EU pursues greater strategic autonomy in defence procurement.
By entering service with a NATO and EU land force and being integrated directly onto armoured vehicles and national battle-management networks, KARGU and ALPAGU move from being regional Turkish innovations to instruments that will shape European land-warfare practice in the coming years. The way this unnamed customer employs, regulates and doctrinally frames these systems, from platoon-level ambushes and counter-battery missions to networked, multi-domain kill chains, will be closely watched by other allies seeking to combine the operational gains of agile, AI-assisted loitering munitions with the legal, ethical and political constraints that inevitably accompany them. As more European armies evaluate similar capabilities, this first NATO-EU integration of KARGU and ALPAGU is likely to serve as both a technical reference and a political test case for the role of Turkish unmanned systems within the alliance.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
