Türkiye's HAVELSAN Integrates Bayraktar TB3 Drone With ADVENT CMS on TCG Anadolu Assault Ship.

HAVELSAN has integrated its ADVENT combat management system with Bayraktar TB3 shipborne drones aboard TCG Anadolu, enabling real-time imagery and mission data sharing across a naval task group. The move tightens the reconnaissance-to-engagement cycle and highlights Ankara’s push toward networked unmanned naval operations after its removal from the F-35 program.

HAVELSAN has integrated its ADVENT combat management system with Bayraktar TB3 shipborne drones aboard TCG Anadolu, tightening the Turkish Navy’s reconnaissance-to-engagement loop by pushing UAV-derived imagery and mission data directly into the ship’s tactical picture and enabling distribution across the wider task group rather than keeping it confined to a single platform. The company stated the software work was completed ahead of NATO’s Steadfast Dart 2026 activity, and described the integration as operationally validated on Türkiye’s largest naval vessel, positioning Anadolu as a more effective unmanned aviation command node for fleet-level situational awareness and targeting.
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HAVELSAN has integrated the Bayraktar TB3 shipborne UAV with the ADVENT combat management system and FleetStar data backbone aboard TCG Anadolu, enabling bi-directional transfer of imagery and mission data, real-time ship-UAV geometry for safer recoveries, and faster distribution of drone-derived tracks across a naval task group to tighten the reconnaissance-to-engagement kill chain (Picture source: Havelsan).

For Anadolu, the significance is less about adding another sensor feed and more about turning a large-deck amphibious ship into a networked command node for unmanned aviation. After Türkiye’s removal from the F-35 program, Ankara’s concept for Anadolu increasingly pivots toward a mixed air wing of helicopters and fixed-wing unmanned aircraft that can extend surveillance and strike reach without the deck cycle and logistics burden of manned fast jets. The ship’s profile as a sea base for aircraft, drones, and embarked forces makes combat system integration and data distribution architecture decisive for sustaining operational tempo in high-threat maritime environments.

The milestone couples two layers of the ship’s digital backbone. ADVENT is the combat management layer that aggregates sensor inputs, supports track management and engagement planning, and provides tactical decision support for weapons and electronic warfare under a unified command-and-control framework. It is built from the outset for task force operations rather than single-ship optimization, with native support for NATO tactical data links such as Link 11, Link 16, and Link 22, including gateways like JREAP and messaging such as VMF. That architecture ensures that a drone’s sensor output is not isolated on the host vessel but can be correlated with other sources and disseminated over standardized links to additional shooters.

FleetStar, meanwhile, functions as the shipboard data distribution layer that collects platform and sensor data and pushes it to multiple clients with low delay, redundancy, and configurable formats and update rates. Designed as a fault-tolerant and expandable platform data distribution system, it incorporates features such as prioritized acquisition, recording, and playback, and continuous operation suitable for mixed-criticality warship networks. On a large aviation-capable platform like Anadolu, this is central to synchronizing navigation, flight operations, sensors, communications, and combat systems under heavy operational load. A resilient distribution backbone prevents fragmentation between mission systems and preserves decision speed during high-tempo evolutions.

The most operationally relevant element of the integration is the verified bi-directional data exchange between ADVENT and the Bayraktar TB3. This enables direct transfer of imagery and mission data from the aircraft into the combat management system while also supporting real-time computation of relative position and approach geometry between the UAV and the ship. In practical terms, this goes beyond streaming video to a console. It implies that TB3-derived tracks and sensor products can be fused into the ship’s recognized maritime and air picture and managed alongside radar and electronic warfare inputs. Simultaneously, ship-aircraft geometry calculations support safer recoveries and more precise deck cycle management in contested or low-visibility conditions, where automated cues reduce operator workload and margin for error.

Bayraktar TB3 is engineered to make such integration operationally meaningful. The carrier-capable MALE-class UAV features folding wings to enable deck handling, a maximum takeoff weight of approximately 1,600 kilograms, a payload capacity of around 280 kilograms, and endurance exceeding 24 hours. These parameters position it for persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance as well as time-sensitive targeting roles. Its compatibility with beyond-line-of-sight control via SATCOM enables over-the-horizon operations, extending the sensor perimeter well beyond the ship’s organic radar horizon. When integrated directly into a combat management system with full tactical data link connectivity, the platform becomes a distributed sensor node rather than a standalone reconnaissance asset.

The broader operational implication is the maturation of task-group warfare built around unmanned forward sensors. TB3-derived data aboard Anadolu is structured to be shareable with other naval assets within the formation. When coupled with ADVENT’s tactical data link suite, this architecture supports a network-centric pattern in which a forward unmanned aircraft extends detection and identification range while other ships exploit the same common operating picture for air defense cueing, surface engagement planning, or composite warfare command functions. The reduction in latency between collection and dissemination directly affects engagement timelines, particularly in littoral environments where sea-skimming missiles, fast inshore attack craft, and low-observable aerial threats compress reaction windows.

Strategically, the integration underscores Türkiye’s push to align indigenous unmanned aviation with a domestically developed naval C2 ecosystem, reducing reliance on foreign mission systems and preserving upgrade autonomy. ADVENT’s modular structure and FleetStar’s data distribution architecture also present an exportable template for navies seeking to incorporate unmanned systems into both new-build and legacy platforms without replacing entire combat suites. The decisive test ahead will be sustained operational performance during multinational exercises and real-world deployments, where interoperability discipline, electromagnetic spectrum management, and sortie generation rates will determine whether Anadolu’s networked drone concept delivers a measurable shift in maritime combat capability.