Türkiye Exports Drone-Killing Gun to Pakistan, Azerbaijan

(MENAFN) A Turkish defense manufacturer has launched international exports of a next-generation heavy machine gun engineered specifically to intercept and destroy drones from airborne helicopters, the company's top executive announced this week.

Samsun Yurt Savunma (SYS) unveiled the CANiK M3 FALCON — a 12.7x99 mm helicopter-mounted weapon system — at the SAHA 2026 International Defense and Aerospace Exhibition in Istanbul, one of several cutting-edge platforms Turkish defense firms are debuting at the high-profile event alongside a wave of international cooperation agreements.

SYS Chair Zafer Aral, speaking to media on the exhibition floor, said the weapon was purpose-built for a battlefield increasingly dominated by low-cost drone threats and loitering munitions — a shift that has fundamentally altered modern warfare.

"The CANiK M3 FALCON is a design developed entirely against drones, against Shahed-type drones, to neutralize drones from helicopters," Aral said. "It is currently being used effectively. The first shipments were made to Pakistan and Azerbaijan."

The system operates in conjunction with radar detection, allowing helicopters to scramble, engage, and eliminate incoming threats with precision. Aral noted that Shahed-type drones cruise at approximately 250 kilometers per hour — a speed well within the operational range of deployment helicopters.

"When radar detects these drones or UAVs, helicopters take off, open their doors and can neutralize them completely with FALCONs," he said.

The SYS chairman emphasized that the FALCON concept has already crossed from prototype to active combat deployment — a rare distinction for a system making its public exhibition debut.

"This new war concept is being exhibited for the first time and is also being used for the first time," Aral said. "This need emerged recently, and a solution has been produced by using helicopters and FALCONs."

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