Derya Arms USA announced today that the company’s Derya MAX 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun is the firearm used on Drone Kalkan? (“Drone Shield”), a close-range counter-unmanned aircraft system developed in Turkey for mini and micro drones, including FPV and fiber-optic-controlled aircraft that electronic jamming cannot stop.
Two Derya MAX shotguns are mounted side-by-side on a pan-tilt turret and fire together to put a metal cloud across the drone’s flight path. The MAX is manufactured by Derya Arms in Jacksonville, Florida, and is the anti-drone gun on the system.
Drone Kalkan? will be shown publicly for the first time at the 21st MÜS?AD EXPO, September 23–26, 2026, at the Istanbul Expo Center.
THE SYSTEM
Reporting from Anadolu Agency and Turkish defense outlets describes Drone Kalkan? as a compact, vehicle-mountable last-layer defense against cheap, fast aerial threats. Fiber-optic FPV drones keep flying when radio jammers, GPS spoofing, and other soft-kill tools fail. That is why the system is built around a physical shot, not a signal.
Published system details include the following:
Acquisition and track at approximately 660–875 yards using electro-optical and acoustic sensors and artificial-intelligence fire control.
Engagement at approximately 165 yards with simultaneous fire from both Derya MAX shotguns.
Turaç Sterling 12-gauge magnum anti-drone ammunition, including tungsten loads reported to produce about a 6.5-foot metal cloud at up to 150 yards.
Gas-operated Derya MAX actions with 3-inch magnum chambers and 10- or 15-round magazines for rapid follow-up shots and swarm engagements.
Intended fit on land and naval vehicles, fixed sites, and unmanned ground vehicles, including 4×4 patrol around critical infrastructure.
Turaç General Manager Fatih Altunba?, quoted in Anadolu Agency coverage, put the problem in six seconds: an FPV can close at roughly 112 miles per hour, or about 75 miles per hour with a munition attached. Once it is seen, the remaining time to act is about six seconds. The system is built to scan, classify, slew, and fire without waiting on a manual cue.
DERYA’S ROLE
Derya Arms supplies the two 12-gauge Derya MAX semi-automatic shotguns that sit on the turret and do the killing. That is the company’s piece of the stack: a reliable, high-capacity 12-gauge platform that can throw a dense pattern on command and stay in the fight for follow-up drones.
The MAX is built at Derya’s U.S. manufacturing operation in Jacksonville. Derya Arms USA is putting that same platform in front of American customers as the company’s anti-drone 12-gauge — a shotgun designed to put a cloud of shot where a small aircraft is flying, whether the user is on a vehicle mount or a conventional defensive setup.
Derya is one partner on a five-party program. Credit belongs with the team that built the rest of the system:
Turaç — program lead and manufacturer of Sterling 12-gauge magnum anti-drone ammunition.
Derya Arms — Derya MAX 12-gauge semi-automatic shotguns.
Lasersan — electro-optical sensor package, acoustic sensors, and system integration on the turret.
Urban Savunma — mechanical design and vehicle integration of the turret.
Istanbul Technical University Aviation and Space Technologies Application and Research Center (?TÜ ARC) — image- and acoustic-based artificial-intelligence algorithms for detect, classify, track, and fire solution.
Turaç has said the system was designed from the start with export in mind and that the company already sells into more than 90 countries and is a NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) supplier. Those statements are Turaç’s. Derya Arms USA is announcing its own product on the gun: the Derya MAX as the 12-gauge effector.
WHY IT MATTERS IN THE UNITED STATES
Small FPV and kamikaze drones are no longer a problem confined to one theater. The lesson from current conflicts is simple: if the aircraft does not use a radio link you can jam, you have to hit it. A 12-gauge shotgun with the right load is a practical way to do that at the last 150 yards — on a vehicle, a ship, a checkpoint, or a fixed site.
Derya Arms USA manufactures the MAX in Jacksonville so that platform is available as a U.S.-built 12-gauge for defensive and professional users who need that last layer. The Drone Kalkan? installation is the clearest public example of the MAX doing that job on a purpose-built remote mount.
ABOUT DERYA ARMS USA: Derya Arms USA, based in Jacksonville, Florida, manufactures and imports Derya firearms for the U.S. market, including the Derya MAX 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun. The company is the U.S. arm of Derya Arms, a firearms manufacturer with production in Turkey and the United States.
