Turkey Ambitiously Seeks National Air-to-Air Missiles

Gürcan Okumus, Director of TUBITAK-SAGE (Defense Industries Research and Development Institute) revealed the recent progress on Turkey’s domestic Air-to-Air Missile Projects, including GOKDOGAN, AKDOGAN and BOZDOGAN.

TUBITAK-SAGE, which develops Turkey’s first national air-to-air missiles GOKDOGAN and BOZDOGAN, continues to work for GOKHAN and AKDOGAN Missiles.

“The project process continues successfully in the GOKTUG project. Most of the planned tests within the scope of the project have been completed, but there are some ongoing tests as well. There may be shifts in test programs due to various internal and external factors, but as a result, we maintain our goal of completing the project within this year. The results we have achieved so far are very successful, the data obtained is above expectations,” Okumus explained.

BOZDOGAN and GOKDOGAN Test

“We are beyond range targets in both BOZDOGAN and GOKDOGAN, they have abilities that stand out from their counterparts. In one of the tests, the first supersonic air-to-air missile was launched within the scope of this Project.”

The test marks a turning point for the Turkish Air Forces as the Turkish fighter jets fired a supersonic air-to-air missile first time in her history.

The second phase of the GOKTUG Project and the first productions will start again this year, including their integration with different F-16 types and UAVs.

UAV Integrations

In the continuation of the project, we started the preliminary studies for the advanced configurations of BOZDOGAN and GOKDOGAN. Capability gains such as longer range, more advanced data link, and warhead with directed reactive particles are on the way.

“Using an air-to-air missile in a UAV is a different and difficult concept. For this concept, our negotiations with BAYKAR continue. AESA Radar integration is very important here. I think that the studies will be completed in parallel on both missile level and AESA radar integration,” Okumus said.

“As for AKDOGAN, it is being worked on as an internal project of ours. We are planning AKDOGAN as a ‘Mini Air-to-Air Missile’, but we are also evaluating the case of evolving the missile into a Close Air Defense Missile for Naval Platforms. AKDOGAN or a different version of BOZDOGAN will be used for helicopter platforms,” Okumus stated.