UAVERA: the Coşkunöz-backed Turkish firm betting on VTOL drones and indigenous flight control
Turkey’s drone story is usually told through Baykar’s TB2 and AKINCI or Turkish Aerospace’s ANKA series. Below that headline layer, however, sits a tier of smaller companies building the subsystems and niche platforms that make the ecosystem self-sufficient. UAVERA, an Ankara-based firm under Coşkunöz Holding, is one of them, and its focus is a capability Western integrators treat as a crown jewel: indigenous flight control systems.
Why flight control matters
Flight control computers and their software remain among the most tightly export-controlled items in the UAV business. UAVERA was founded specifically to develop generic, locally designed flight control solutions, which Coşkunöz Holding later scaled with an investment of around 15 million Turkish lira and a push into vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. For NATO observers, this is the pattern worth noting: Turkish industry is no longer localising only airframes and munitions, but the brains of the aircraft.
The Çağatay family
UAVERA’s flagship is the Çağatay family of sub-cloud VTOL drones. The aircraft lift off vertically without a runway, then transition to fixed-wing flight on a petrol engine. According to company statements, the design offers up to six hours of endurance, a communications range of up to 150 kilometres and a payload of roughly five kilograms, with a 100 cc engine burning about one litre of fuel per hour. The CGT50 variant was presented as the first satellite-controlled UAV system in its class, with sense-and-avoid, swarming capability and integration with HAVELSAN’s HARBİYE battlefield command and control system. UAVERA handled research and development, design and prototyping of the CGT50 and has declared its Eskişehir facilities ready for serial production, with a stated capacity of six aircraft per month.
Reading the signal
None of this makes UAVERA a competitor to Baykar. It makes the company a data point in a broader trend: Turkey’s UAV sector is deepening vertically, localising cameras, engines and avionics that were previously imported. No new publicly verified production or delivery figures are currently available, which itself is typical of Turkey’s second-tier defence firms, whose order books often surface only at trade shows such as SAHA EXPO or IDEF.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns UAVERA?
UAVERA operates under Coşkunöz Holding, a Turkish industrial group active in automotive, technology and defence manufacturing.
What is the Çağatay CGT50?
A VTOL drone developed by UAVERA, presented by the company as the first satellite-controlled UAV in its class, with swarming and sense-and-avoid features.
Where does UAVERA produce its aircraft?
Prototyping and production take place in Ankara and Eskişehir, where the company says it is ready for serial manufacturing.
