According to Patrick Kenyette in Military Africa, Uganda recently acquired STM Togan drones from Turkish company STM, marking the second sale of this type of drone to an African country after Nigeria. These drones will primarily be used for surveillance of Uganda’s vast borders.
The STM Togan is a tactical mini-UAV developed by the Turkish company STM. It was initially presented at the International Defense Industry Exhibition (IDEF 2017). The drone is equipped with a flight control system and mission planning software and has target acquisition capability.
The Surveillance UAV System TOGAN, which can be easily transported and utilized by a single operator in the field of operation, can also perform joint missions with other STM platforms through the developed flight control, mission planning, and target detection systems. Togan platforms are designed to transmit real-time, automatic target information with STM’s Tactical attack UAV systems Kargu, Alpagu, and Boyga via a joint Ground Control Station software.
A single Togan drone can operate for 45 minutes and has a range of 10 kilometers. It has daytime and infrared imaging systems with 30x optical zoom. The UAV can autonomously track moving targets and has the capability to perform in-flight relief changes, enabling continuous operation.