Türkiye’s Roketsan strikes with new products at IDEF’23

Türkiye’s leading rocket and missile manufacturer, Roketsan, is showcasing a total of 30 products, seven of which are debuted, at the prestigious International Defense Industry Fair, IDEF’23, held in Istanbul.

The company held a press conference Monday to inform the media about the products it is showcasing before the event, hosted from July 25 to 28 at the Tüyap Fair and Congress Center in Istanbul. The fair promises to be a platform for forging new collaborations with numerous domestic and foreign visitors, industry professionals, government officials and military delegations who will be hosted at Roketsan’s extensive booth.

During the press conference, Roketsan Board Chairperson Faruk Yiğit said his company increased its revenue in 2022 by more than 9% in U.S. dollar terms compared to the previous year, to $863 million.

The equivalent of the revenue in Turkish Lira was TL 14.3 billion, with an increase of 103% compared to the previous year.

“In 2022, we have increased the share of foreign sales in revenue to 32%. We aim to increase this figure to 50% next year,” Yiğit said, noting: “As we approach our goals step by step, our products continue to prove their success in all conditions from America to Asia, from Africa to Europe.”

He stressed that Roketsan, to make its stable growth sustainable, “is increasing production capacity and making the biggest investments in Roketsan’s history.”

“We will continue to accomplish greater things in the future with the investments we have made that exceed our current capacity. Another way to ensure sustainable growth is through research and development (R&D) investments. In this context, as one of the largest R&D institutions in our country, we allocated 17.48% of our turnover to R&D in 2022 and spent TL 2.2 billion on R&D in total,” Yiğit stressed.

“In 2023, we foresee an R&D expenditure of TL 3.1 billion.”

He also informed that while they “included 1,536 new domestic suppliers in our ecosystem in 2022, our total number of domestic suppliers increased to 1,823. On the other hand, the rate of national and domestic materials we use in our projects increased to 87% in 2022.”

“Increasing its export volume simultaneously with its production capacity and evaluating 2023 as the year of export and investment, Roketsan will double its capacity in 2024,” he added.

Roketsan General Manager Murat Ikinci said, “Thanks for participating in the fair with our strong staff, we aim to sign new collaborations.”

“Roketsan, which is on the list of the world’s top 100 defense industry companies, will be one of the most striking and most visited exhibitors of IDEF this year. As of today, we have meetings with dozens of industry professionals and military delegations on our agenda. Roketsan, an extremely competitive institution that develops products and provides full support in the field, is a technology base where the highest technologies of our country are produced. I believe that by the end of IDEF’23, we will sign many signatures that will benefit both our Roketsan and Türkiye,” Ikinci said.

Mobile air defense system, Burç

Among the newly showcased products of Roketsan, there is the mobile air defense system “Burç.”

The system was developed with Roketsan’s own resources to be used in the air defense of mobile/fixed units and facilities on the battlefield and in the rear area. Burç, which uses eight Sungur air defense missiles on two quadruple pods as its main weapon, is equipped with 20 mm 3-barreled cannon ammunition as an auxiliary weapon.

The system, which has four AESA radars, provides a complete peripheral safety net with 360-degree turret rotation capability. In addition to providing data communication with command-and-control networks with the JREAP-C protocol, it can be integrated with the Air Defense Early Warning and Command Control System interface and Friend-Foe Recognition (IFF).

The system, which protects fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), has a maximum effective range of 8 kilometers (4.97 miles) and a minimum of 500 meters (1,640.42 feet) and the ability to reach an altitude of 4 kilometers, together with Sungur.

Burç, which is capable of detecting and tracking multiple targets at the same time with a 360-degree angle, will be able to meet many needs in today’s battlefield with its high mobility in rugged terrain conditions. The system for which Roketsan completed the prototype production is now ready for mass production.

UAV-230 Air-to-Ground Ballistic Supersonic Missile

Roketsan aims to deliver the UAV-230 Air-to-Ground Ballistic Supersonic Missile, a first worldwide, to a wide customer base in world markets. The inability of air defense systems to take countermeasures against the UAV-230, which reaches its target from a long range and above the speed of sound, makes this system stand out.

UAV-230 quickly reaches the target at high speed from a high altitude. The UAV-230, which can operate day and night, is an effective force against fixed land and sea targets, air defense radar and communication systems, lightly armored land or sea vehicles, critical facilities such as command centers, personnel and opportunity targets.

It is planned to add warheads such as thermobaric, semi-piercing and multipurpose warheads against different target types to the UAV-230, which has a particle-effect warhead. In addition, studies are carried out on integrating the laser seeker head.

The UAV-230 is guided precisely to the target with its GNSS-supported inertial guidance capability against the jamming systems it has. With the “fire and forget” feature, the UAV-230 allows users to use it in critical missions without going deep into enemy positions.

KMC-U weapon system

The KMC-U, which can launch the Cirit Laser Guided Missile, the UMTAS Long Range Anti-Tank Missile System and the L-UMTAS Laser Guided Long Range Anti-Tank Missile System developed by Roketsan in the precision-guided missile class, can also provide close protection with its 7.62mm machine gun.

The system leaves its rivals behind as it is the only weapon system in the world capable of firing three different types of missiles, both laser and IIR guided. Its high firepower and precision strike capability can be used against armored and unarmored opportunity targets such as main battle tanks and lightly armored vehicles. The KMC-U, which is compatible with different weather and environmental conditions and has day and night reconnaissance/surveillance capabilities, allows the user to use it effectively on many battlefields with its features, such as firing both at a standstill and while moving.

The KMC-U Weapon System, the foundations of which were laid in 2014 with Roketsan’s own resources, attracted the attention of the end-users in a very short time with its precision strike capability, agility and operational capabilities and started to be used intensively after the trial production and delivery of three units in 2016. While the success of the KMC-U was appreciated by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), a serial production contract was signed with the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) for the mass production of the KMC-U weapon system on Aug. 15, 2022.

MAM-L IIR and MAM-T IIR

Roketsan continues to develop its MAM product family, which has proven its success in the field as fired by Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) in Syria or Ukraine, with new features. MAM-L and MAM-T will now offer a low-cost solution for critical targets thanks to their increased range with IIR head and RF data link that can operate by the operational UCAV concept.

MAM-L and MAM-T, which have the “man-in-the-loop” operating principle with the integrated two-way RF Datalink, can be managed by the operator through the ammunition seeker image throughout the flight. With their new features, both products will have superior capabilities over their competitors, such as locking before/after firing, updating targets in the air during flight, selecting ammunition trajectory according to target/environmental conditions, and being able to be used actively despite all environmental conditions such as cloud and rain.

While the MAM-L reaches a range of 15 kilometers with its laser pointer head, it has a range of 25+ kilometers with the IIR head; MAM-T, on the other hand, can effectively hit a range of 50+ kilometers with its new head. Within the scope of further diversifying the capabilities of the MAM-T IIR ammunition, it is aimed to start the first flight tests with the Dual Seeker (Seeker Head with IIR+TV) in 2024. MAM-L IIR and MAM-T IIR, rapidly integrated with the existing MAM infrastructure, are expected to enter the inventory in 2024.

Export contract for Çakır cruise missile

Roketsan has already signed an export contract for its Çakır cruise missile, which has recently undergone firing tests, even before the product is ready for mass production, the company general manager said Monday.

The country which signed the deal was not disclosed yet, but the company official said it proves the trust their worldwide customers have put in Roketsan’s products.

The initial launch of the Çakır missile family, which includes eight different missiles in three other groups in total, was held on March 31, 2022.

The Çakır missiles are being developed in four main groups: Anti-Ship Missile (IIR, RF, Hybrid), Electronic Warfare Missile, Tracking Missile (IIR, RF, Hybrid) and Swarm Sensor Tracking Missile. Thus, it aims to meet the needs of institutions such as the Land Forces Command, the Naval Forces Command, the Air Forces Command and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT).

The Çakır missile, which has a range of 150+ kilometers, stands out with its weight of 275 kilograms. Thanks to its weight, which can be considered quite light for its range, the Çakır missile can be transported in multiple ways, even on air platforms with a minimal payload capacity.

The missile, which has a “High Explosive Semi Penetrating Particle Effect Thermobaric” warhead weighing approximately 70 kilograms, can be effective against all armored or unarmored targets.

The Çakır missile can be equipped with a solid fuel launch engine to eliminate the range disadvantage if used from air platforms operating at low altitudes such as land, sea or helicopter. The missile, which can fly very close to the surface thanks to its Super Sea-Skimming feature, will also be challenging to detect by enemy elements.