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Turkish military teams carried out a controlled detonation of an American-built unmanned surface vessel on Saturday after inspectors determined the craft was active and loaded with munitions, the Ordu Governor's Office announced.
The AEGIR-W, a military-grade autonomous vessel manufactured by US defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation, had washed up on a beach in the Yuceler neighborhood of Unye, a district on Türkiye's Black Sea coast, on Friday afternoon.
Civilians who noticed the unidentified object alerted authorities, and gendarmerie teams were dispatched to secure a perimeter around the site.
Specialists from Istanbul's S.A.S Group Command examined the vessel on Saturday and concluded around 2:00 p.m. local time that it remained operational and was carrying munitions, according to the governor's statement.
The craft was towed approximately four kilometers offshore and destroyed in a controlled blast. Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution during the operation.
The vessel is believed to have been used in testing connected to the war in Ukraine, though that claim has not been independently verified. No official explanation has been offered for how the drone craft ended up on Türkiye's coastline, and the investigation remains ongoing.
The AEGIR belongs to a family of unmanned surface vessels that Sierra Nevada Corporation markets for high-threat maritime environments.
According to the company's product specifications, the AEGIR-W variant measures roughly 10 meters in length, has a range of up to approximately 900 kilometers, exceeds speeds of 25 knots, and can carry payloads of up to 300 kilograms. It is capable of fully autonomous or human-controlled operation.
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