Turkey Developing Lightweight Versions of Air-to-Air Missiles for Use on Drones

Turkey’s TÜBİTAK Defense Industries Research and Development Institute (TÜBİTAK SAGE) is developing lightweight versions of its air-to-air missiles Gokdogan and Bozdogan for use drones such as Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci.

The Gokdogan is a beyond-visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile while the Bozdogan is a visual-range air-to-air missile being developed for use on Turkey upgrade of its F-16 fighter jets.

Both missiles will be integrated with the UAV version of Murud AESA, also in development for the F-16 project.

The development assumes significance the light of a recent shooting of a Turkish drone by an America F-16 over Syria. Had the drone been armed with a BVR missile, it could have deterred the F-16 pilot from taking an easy shot at the Turkish UAV.

Turkey recently initiated mass production of the two missiles. Integration of these drone-tailored missiles will begin once the development of UCAV-specific missile configurations is completed.

In a parallel effort, the National AESA Radar MURAD, developed by ASELSAN, has been successfully integrated into the AKINCI TİHA for testing purposes. Upon the conclusion of these tests, AKINCI will gain the capability to engage air targets detected using the MURAD AESA Radar in conjunction with the GÖKDOĞAN and BOZDOĞAN Missiles.

Currently, there is no unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform in the world capable of deploying air-to-air missiles. Recently, the United States conducted a test launch of the AIM-9 Sidewinder, which is equivalent to the BOZDOĞAN Air-to-Air Missile, using the MQ-9 Reaper UCAV.

BOZDOĞAN Line-of-Sight Air-to-Air Missile

BOZDOĞAN, equivalent to the U.S.-produced AIM-9X, is an In-Sight Air-to-Air Missile. Featuring a high-resolution Imaging Infrared (IIR) Seeker Head that offers excellent off-boresight capabilities, BOZDOĞAN is resilient against electronic warfare. This missile, boasting a range of approximately 25 kilometers, can achieve speeds up to three times the speed of sound (Mach 3) and exhibits remarkable maneuverability due to vector control. Its IIR warhead allows it to target even cruise missiles effectively.

GÖKDOĞAN Beyond Visual Air-to-Air Missile

GÖKDOĞAN, serving as a counterpart to the U.S.-produced AIM-120 AMRAAM, is a Beyond Visual Air-to-Air Missile. Featuring a solid-state design and an Active Radar (AR) Seeker Head, it offers capabilities such as fire-and-forget, multi-target locking, post-launch locking, and the ability to engage targets from various angles. This missile is impervious to electronic warfare and can be guided towards jamming sources. With an impressive range of approximately 65 kilometers, it can update its targets thanks to its data link.