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ASELSAN and CSG Launch EU-Based Joint Venture to Deliver Korkut Air Defense on Tatra 6×6 Vehicles.
Turkish defense firm ASELSAN has partnered with the Czech industry to integrate its Korkut air defense system onto a Tatra Force 6x6 vehicle, targeting European and export markets. The move reflects NATO-wide urgency to counter low-cost drones with affordable, mobile gun-based air defense systems rather than relying solely on expensive interceptors.
On 4 February 2026, Excalibur International, part of Czechoslovak Group, confirmed that it had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with ASELSAN to establish an EU-based joint venture. The announcement comes as European armed forces draw direct lessons from Ukraine, where low-cost FPV drones saturate the airspace faster than missile-based systems can respond economically. The CSG communication also unveiled a Korkut air defense configuration integrated onto a Tatra Force 6x6, positioning the program for both European customers and export markets at a time when counter-UAS capacity has become a procurement priority across NATO.
Türkiye’s ASELSAN has partnered with the Czech industry to localize and field the Korkut air defense system on a Tatra 6x6 vehicle, targeting Europe’s growing demand for mobile, cost-effective counter-drone défenses (Picture Source: CSG)
The agreement represents more than a single vehicle integration. According to CSG, the EU-based joint venture is designed to structure long-term technical cooperation in air defense, electronic warfare, smart munitions, and border security, areas that are now central to European defense planning. Establishing the venture inside the EU has direct implications for procurement eligibility, sovereignty considerations, and lifecycle support within European supply chains. As part of the localisation process, production is planned to be transferred to CSG facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, creating a regional industrial footprint for sustainment, future variants, and rapid support to European operators.
One of the first tangible outcomes is the integration of the Korkut air defense system onto the Tatra Force 6×6 wheeled platform. This choice is not incidental. The Tatra chassis, known for its central tube design, high payload capacity, and off-road mobility, is particularly suited to manoeuvre air defense roles that must accompany mechanised units rather than protect fixed sites. A 6×6 wheeled configuration offers road speed, strategic mobility, and ease of redeployment across European road networks compared to tracked alternatives. While the companies have not officially confirmed the exact turret variant, the imagery released strongly indicates that a twin-barrel KORKUT 140/35 configuration is being adapted to this wheeled format.
As reported by Army Recognition, the operational logic of KORKUT 140/35 is built around gun-based very short-range air defense intended to move with frontline units. The system features twin 35 mm guns with a rate of fire of 1,100 rounds per minute and an effective engagement range of up to 4 km, performance figures tailored for extremely short reaction windows against low-altitude threats. Its effectiveness against drones is amplified by the use of programmable 35 mm airburst ammunition such as ATOM, which detonates at a calculated point in the target’s flight path to disperse fragments across a controlled pattern, an approach particularly suited to FPV drones and small UAVs that are difficult to hit with direct impact alone. The stabilised turret allows accurate firing even while the vehicle is moving, reinforcing its role as a manoeuvre SHORAD asset.
Army Recognition further detailed that KORKUT is typically deployed as a coordinated multi-vehicle element rather than as a single gun platform. A standard configuration includes three weapon system vehicles supported by a dedicated command-and-control vehicle equipped with a 3D search radar to build the local air picture. Each weapon vehicle combines radar tracking with electro-optical sensors, ensuring detection and engagement capability even in cluttered environments or under electronic interference. ASELSAN has also demonstrated that this architecture can be expanded with additional radar coverage and electronic attack components for counter-FPV jamming, creating a layered mix of hard-kill and soft-kill responses increasingly seen as standard in modern counter-UAS doctrine.
This operational relevance was illustrated on 6 January 2026, when ASELSAN released footage showing the KORKUT 140/35 successfully engaging and destroying an FPV-type drone during dynamic field trials in Türkiye, as reported by Army Recognition. The test demonstrated the maturity of the system in realistic drone warfare conditions rather than in a laboratory scenario. In practical terms, Miloš Šivara, CEO of Excalibur International, explained that by relying on highly accurate programmable ammunition, the cost of neutralising a drone can be kept close to the cost of the drone itself, a cost-exchange ratio that missile-based systems struggle to achieve when facing mass drone threats.
For NATO and European forces, the Tatra-based Korkut concept directly addresses the widening capability gap between man-portable air defense systems and expensive medium-range surface-to-air missiles. A wheeled VSHORAD gun system with radar, electro-optical tracking, and programmable airburst ammunition is particularly suited to protecting manoeuvre formations, artillery units, logistics convoys, and forward command posts from FPV drones and other low-altitude aerial threats that appear with minimal warning. The potential for integration with NATO command-and-control networks further strengthens its relevance for European operators.
The strategic dimension of the partnership lies as much in its industrial structure as in the turret mounted on the vehicle. Transferring production to the Czech Republic and Slovakia reinforces European supply chain security and opens the path for future integration of European subsystems and communications. Beyond this single program, the joint venture framework could enable additional ASELSAN technologies in electronic warfare, sensors, and smart munitions to be localised in Europe, reflecting a broader shift back toward gun-based short-range air defense after decades of reliance on missile-centric solutions.
This initiative illustrates how European industry is adapting to a battlefield where drone saturation forces armies to rethink air defense economics and doctrine. By coupling ASELSAN’s Korkut architecture with the mobility of the Tatra Force 6×6 and an EU-based production footprint, CSG is positioning this system as a scalable, sustainable, and operationally relevant answer to one of the most pressing air defense challenges faced by European armed forces today.
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.