ULAQ USV Embarks on a New Journey as “ULAQ Global”

At the IDEF 2025 exhibition in Istanbul, it was officially announced that the ULAQ family of Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) will continue its development and global expansion under a new brand: ULAQ GLOBAL. Originally developed and produced through a strategic partnership between ARES Shipyard and Meteksan Defence, the ULAQ USV program will now operate under this newly established company, which is exclusively dedicated to the ULAQ USV family.

ULAQ GLOBAL press release

Breaking new ground in the defense industry as Türkiye’s first armed unmanned surface vessel (USV) brand, ULAQ is entering an exciting new era. Originally developed through the combined vision and engineering strength of ARES Shipyard and Meteksan Defence, ULAQ has now evolved into an independent company under the name “ULAQ Global”.

This new corporate structure aims to further advance ULAQ’s innovative vision, technological, and operational capabilities. With this transformation, ULAQ Global will continue its leadership in autonomous systems and strategic dominance at sea, now on a global scale and under its own brand identity.

As part of its renewed corporate vision, ULAQ Global is committed to delivering high-tech, next-generation solutions in both domestic and international markets. The company aims to provide high-value-added systems tailored to the security needs of allied and partner nations.

This strategic milestone represents more than just a transition to corporate independence—it is a powerful symbol of Turkish engineering, strategic foresight, and national technology stepping confidently onto the global stage.

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About ULAQ USV

ULAQ is the brand name for the Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) product family developed by ARES Shipyard and Meteksan Defence, which covers a variety of platform types, capabilities, and roles.

ULAQ was first unveiled in October 2020. It has a 400 km range, 65 km/h speed, day/night vision capabilities, encrypted communication infrastructure, which can be operated from mobile vehicles, navy headquarters or from sea platforms such as aircraft carriers or frigates. Its missions include intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, surface warfare, asymmetric warfare, escort missions, strategic infrastructure protection.

The prototype carries a launcher for four laser-guided Cirit missiles and two laser-guided long-range anti-tank missiles (L-UMTAS) produced by Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan. The ULAQ prototype carried out test-fires of Cirit against a land target on 26-27 May 2021 during the Denizkurdu-2021 exercise of the Turkish Navy. After the firing trials, the anti-surface warfare (ASuW) version completed the acceptance trials.

Following the ASuW version, which is the initial phase of the project, the development will begin on autonomous surface vehicles for intelligence and electronic warfare, mine hunting, anti-submarine warfare, firefighting, and humanitarian aid/evacuation.

ULAQ USV main specifications

• Length: 11 meters
• Speed: 35 knots
• Range: 400 Kilometers
• Armament:
  • ASuW – 4x Cirit and 2x UMTAS missiles
  • PSV – 12.7 mm RWS
  • ASW – 2x Lightweight Torpedoes
• The sensor payload differentiates in accordance with the variant
• Control station: Can be controlled from ground and sea stations