African country places first export order for STM Boyga mortar-armed quadcopter

The Boyga is armed with a single 81 mm mortar bomb. (STM Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade Inc)

Turkish company STM announced on 9 July that an undisclosed African customer has placed the first export order for its Boyga unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

“The first international user of Boyga after Türkiye is a country from the African continent,” it said in a press release. “The contract for the first export of Boyga has been signed, and deliveries will be completed in 2024.”

The Boyga is an electrically powered unmanned quadcopter with a take-off weight of 17 kg when carrying an 81 mm mortar round that STM says can be dropped on targets accurately from relatively high altitudes due to the ballistic estimation algorithm it has developed. The Boyga has an endurance of 30 minutes when carrying a munition and a maximum flight altitude of 3,000 m, according to the company's website, which gives different figures for the UAV's range, from 5 to 10 km.

STM quoted its general manager, Özgür Güleryüz, as saying the company's Kargu quadcopter loitering munition has now been exported to more than 10 countries, the Togan scout UAV has been exported to two African countries, and that the first export order for the Alpagu tube-launched loitering munition was signed in 2023.

For more information on Azerbaijan's procurement of the STM Kargu, please see Kargu loitering munition used in Azerbaijan exercise .