Turkey's SYS starts exporting helicopter-mounted CANiK M3 FALCON counter-drone gun to Azerbaijan and Pakistan, signs $50M Kosovo deal
Turkish defence firm Samsun Yurt Savunma (SYS) has begun overseas shipments of the CANiK M3 FALCON, a 12.7x99 mm heavy machine gun adapted for helicopter mounting and designed to destroy Shahed-type loitering munitions in flight, chair Zafer Aral told Anadolu at the SAHA 2026 defence exhibition in Istanbul. More than 40 units are being delivered to Azerbaijan for integration into over 20 helicopters, with first shipments also dispatched to Pakistan; the gun reaches 1,200 rounds per minute and matches Shahed flight speeds of about 250 km/h. SYS also signed a deal worth more than $50 million at the fair to arm 100 Kosovan armoured vehicles with turrets and 30x113 mm cannons.
Turkish defence firm Samsun Yurt Savunma (SYS) has begun overseas shipments of the CANiK M3 FALCON, a 12.7x99 mm heavy machine gun developed to destroy drones and loitering munitions from helicopters, the company's chair Zafer Aral said in remarks to Anadolu at the SAHA 2026 International Defence and Aerospace Exhibition in Istanbul, where the system was showcased for the first time.
"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." He said Shahed-type drones fly at around 250 kilometres per hour (155 mph), a speed helicopters can match: "When radar detects these drones or UAVs, helicopters take off, open their doors and can neutralize them completely with FALCONs."
According to Aral, shipments of more than 40 CANiK M3 FALCONs have begun for integration into more than 20 helicopters in Azerbaijan, with initial products also dispatched to Pakistan. The weapon can fire 1,200 rounds per minute from helicopters and was adapted for aerial use after foreign requests. "The weapon already existed. We developed it and made it suitable for use comfortably from a helicopter," Aral said. Preliminary work has begun on fitting the system to Türkiye's Gökbey helicopter, with tests completed in Konya alongside Turkish defence prime Aselsan.
At the same fair, SYS announced a contract with Kosovo to arm 100 armoured vehicles in the country's existing inventory with turrets and 30x113 mm cannons, a deal Aral put at more than $50 million. "The agreement is related to the armament of armoured vehicles currently in Kosovo's inventory," he said.
The SYS Group is also showing what it calls an "integrated defence ecosystem" at SAHA 2026 in cooperation with UNIROBOTICS, including a Distributed Mobile Layered Air Defence Architecture that links TRAKON remote-controlled weapon stations, CANiK heavy machine guns and the VENOM LR medium-calibre cannon system into a single network. Aral said the design is meant to create layered dominance at different ranges against drone threats and has drawn interest from foreign delegations because it is comparatively low-cost.
Aral said SYS has been in constant contact in recent months with prospective customers from the Gulf to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Africa. "Wars are now being fought with low-cost unmanned land, sea, and air vehicles and the most effective weapons these vehicles can carry," he said. "This is the new war concept. Today we can say Türkiye is the only country in the world that has this concept in hand."