Manufacturing critical equipment for the armed forces is the main aim of many countries. This aim is not easy to realize, because it needs not only economic but also technologic infrastructure. Generally, procuring this kind of staff is cheaper to produce, but, as all we know it has some disadvantages about maintaining costs and political concerns. It is very important to produce your own weapons, especially within the scope of reducing dependence on foreign countries.
As a result of the principle of reducing foreign-dependence, Turkish Navy decided to have indigenous anti-ship cruise missile, which is a strategic weapon for the naval assets. Turkish Defence Company Roketsan built “ATMACA” anti-ship cruise missile after working 9 years for production and finally came to test phase. At this phase, Turkish Navy has conducted a successful test-fire of the country’s first indigenously developed sea-launched cruise missile, and the head of Turkey’s Defense Industries Presidency announced the incidence via Twitter on Monday (4th Nov).
Atmaca was launched from the TCG Kinaliada corvette, the fourth Ada-class anti-submarine warfare corvette manufactured under the Turkish national warship program, said Ismail Demir. That is why Turkish local press call this incident as a day to be proud, because of launching an indigenous missile from an indgenous warship.
ATMACA is expected to enter service at the second half of 2020 as the replacement of Harpoon Missile, which is the main surface-to-surface missile of the Turkish Navy.
What is ATMACA?
According to Roketsan Co., Atmaca is a high precision, long-range, surface-to-surface, precision strike anti-ship missile which can be integrated to frigates and corvettes.
Marked for its long-range, low-track and high-target hit sensitivity, ATMACA is ready for service on modern naval platforms. It is expected to lead to a new era in the field of surface-to-surface missiles.
The anti-ship missile, whose development started back in 2009, completed tests in November 2018. A deal for its mass production was signed between the SSB and Roketsan last year.
Technical Specifications of ATMACA :
Length : 4.8 m
Weight : 800 kg
Range : > 200 km
Warhead Type : High Explosive with Penetration
Warhead Weight : 250 kg
Seeker : Active RF
Guidance : INS*+GPS*+Barometric Altimeter+Radar Altimeter
*INS: Inertial Navigation System
*GPS: Global Positioning System
