May. 7, 2013 - By BURAK EGE BEKDIL – Defense news

ANKARA — Turkey’s leading armored vehicles manufacturer, Otokar, has revealed what it views as the most strategic indigenous vehicle ever developed by a local company, a tracked armored tactical vehicle, the Tulpar.

Analysts said that once the Tulpar has hit serial production, it would end Turkey’s dependence on imported tracked vehicles. But they also say the Tulpar may have to find export markets rather than win huge domestic orders.

“The Tulpar is a vehicle the Turkish military needed in large quantities. But the current peace process with Kurdish insurgents will probably mean less local demand than potentially foreign demand for a vehicle like this,” said one London-based analyst.

After three decades of civil strife with its autonomy-seeking Kurdish minority and nearly 40,000 deaths, the Turkish government earlier this year launched ambitious peace talks with the militant Kurds. The Kurdish separatist PKK promised to withdraw from Turkish territory as of May 8 in return for broader political rights and constitutional recognition. Turkey, the US and the EU recognize the PKK as a terrorist entity.

“The Tulpar is a strategic product for the Turkish military. It is designed to fight all anti-tank assets along with the new-generation tanks Turkey will possess,” Serdar Gorguc, general manager for Otokar, told reporters.

The Tulpar boasts an advanced ballistic and mine resistant body and modular armor technology. It can carry an entire infantry squad.

Otokar unveiled last year the country’s first national main mattle tank, the Altay, with top government officials promising the program would be completed “one or two years” ahead of time.

In 2008, Otokar signed a $500 million contract with the country’s procurement office, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries. Under the deal, Otokar will finish building four prototypes of the Altay this year, two years ahead of the original schedule. The four prototypes will undergo performance tests throughout 2013.

The SSM selected South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem for overall technical support. Turkey’s Aselsan was chosen as the fire control system and command, control and communications system subcontractor. Also, state-owned MKEK was selected as the subcontractor for the 120mm primary weapon, and Roketsan was tasked with the job to provide the armor.

Procurement officials said the serial-production agreement for the Altay would be effective probably in 2017, and together with the expected foreign orders, a first batch of at least 200 tanks is expected to be produced. The Altay probably will be the world’s most modern tank in the 60-ton category by then, Turkish procurement officials say.

Otokar also produces several other armored vehicles, the best known being the Cobra, a four-wheel-drive vehicle, used for reconnaissance and area control purposes by the Turkish security forces and the armies of several other countries.

MOSCOU, 24 avril - RIA Novosti

Les batteries de missiles anti-aériens Patriot déployées dans le sud-est de la Turquie en vue de protéger le pays contre d'éventuelles attaques depuis le territoire syrien ne remplissent pas leur mission, rapporte le journal syrien Watan citant des experts en la matière.

D'après l'analyste du think-tank turc EDAM Aaron Stein, le rayon d'action des missiles implantés en Turquie ne couvre pas une importante partie du sud-ouest de la Turquie et ne permet pas de protéger la province du Hatay, limitrophe de la Syrie.

Selon M.Stein, les batteries de Patriot ne peuvent protéger que les villes où elles sont stationnées, ainsi que leurs alentours immédiats.

"Le Hatay, qui accueille des réfugiés syriens et a été à plusieurs reprises visé par les forces du régime syrien, en dépit de sa position dangereuse, n'est pas protégé contre les missiles chargés d'agents chimiques, qui peuvent être tirés depuis la Syrie", a indiqué l'expert.

Pour sa part, l'expert américain Michael Vice, qui s'est rendu dans la région la semaine dernière, a indiqué au quotidien que l'Allemagne et les Pays-Bas avaient été "réticents" à envoyer leurs militaires à la frontière syro-turque, et que la seule mission de ces derniers consistait à protéger les infrastructures de l'Otan dans la base aérienne d'Incirlik.

En février dernier, les forces de l'Otan ont achevé le déploiement de missiles Patriot acheminés des Etats-Unis, des Pays-Bas et d'Allemagne sur le territoire turc. L'Alliance a installé les missiles sur demande d'Ankara qui avait exprimé son inquiétude face à une éventuelle frappe balistique en provenance de Syrie.

Apr. 22, 2013 - By BURAK EGE BEKDIL – Defense news

Development of 'National Systems' Moves at Full Speed

ANKARA — Hardly a day passes without a Turkish defense company proudly announcing that it has designed, developed and produced a weapon system the country would normally buy off-the-shelf from a foreign supplier. The most recent indigenously developed Turkish weapon is an anti-tank missile, the UMTAS.

Turkish military officials are anxiously awaiting the first serial production and delivery of the UMTAS.

“After years of going from one foreign supplier to another, we are happy to have our companies providing us with national solutions,” a senior Army official said.

Procurement officials said the UMTAS has recently undergone several successful field tests.

“This system can quickly find foreign buyers and mark an impressive transformation [of Turkey] from an import-dependent country into an exporting one,” one procurement official said. “It is relatively low-cost and reliable.”

State-owned missile maker Roketsan initiated the long-range anti-tank UMTAS missile project in efforts, first, to meet local demand from the Turkish Armed Forces, and later to export it, especially to countries in the region.

The UMTAS, with its infrared imaging and laser-seeker options, is an anti-tank missile with a range of 8 kilometers to be used in air-to-ground and ground-to-ground operations.

Roketsan officials said the system is going through further tests for technical properties and compatibility with environmental conditions. Thus far, the system has completed ballistic-missile tests and controlled-missile tests, and its sub-system design has been finished, they said.

The UMTAS is considered the official anti-tank system for the T-129, the helicopter gunship Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is co-producing with Italian-British AgustaWestland in a US $3.2 billion project. It also can be integrated into the Anka, Turkey’s first locally developed unmanned aircraft. Other potential platforms to be outfitted with the UMTAS are armored land vehicles and naval vessels.

Roketsan officials said they plan to develop the L-UMTAS, the same anti-tank missile with laser seeker warheads and missiles using high-explosive particles.

In February, Roketsan said it won a contract from the United Arab Emirates to sell its laser-guided rocket system, known as the Cirit, under a contract worth $196.2 million. The deal comes as Turkey seeks to boost arms exports to Arabian Gulf countries. The Emirati Army is the first foreign customer for the Cirit system.

The Cirit is one of several programs launched by Turkey to equip the Army’s T-129, AH-1P Cobra and AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters with low-cost precision strike capabilities. The 70 mm rocket has a range of 8 kilometers.

French-German company Eurocopter selected the Cirit for a test and integration program to equip the Eurocopter EC635. Roketsan is also producing canisters for Lockheed Martin’s Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile.

Analysts say the commercial development of the Anka boosted Turkish defense manufacturing.

“The Anka is the first aerial platform totally designed, developed and manufactured by Turkish engineering. It has a symbolic importance,” said Ceyhun Ozguven, an Ankara-based analyst.

The Anka has a 56-foot wingspan, a top speed of 75 knots and a maximum altitude of 30,000 feet. It completed military testing in late January and is set for serial production. Turkey aims to export the drone around the region, with the Egyptian government reportedly considering an order.

With the Anka headed for serial production, TAI has already begun developing an armed version of the drone called the Anka +A that will be outfitted with Cirit missiles .

On March 6, Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul showed the Anka to Jordan’s King Abdullah, along with other military products, such as the T-129 and the Hurkus, a basic trainer aircraft TAI is developing. In 2012, Turkey exported about $1.2 billion worth of defense equipment, a 35.7 percent rise over 2011. The main export destinations were the US, UAE and Saudi Arabia. The industry is aiming for $2 billion in exports by 2016.

Turkey’s procurement office, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), has a regional office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for overseeing and coordinating export activities in the region.

Other Turkish weapons include the Altay tank, a $400 million project developed and produced by privately owned armored vehicles maker Otokar. South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem and Turkey’s Roketsan and Aselsan, a state-owned military communications and electronics company, are among the project’s sub-contractors. Also, last month Aselsan said it successfully developed the country’s first indigenous identification friend or foe (IFF) system and delivered the first prototypes to the Turkish military

@Raytheon: No #US block on #Patriot sales to #Turkey - #Defence #Missile #Industry #BMD #Défense http://t.co/8VhwwQv2ZX

RP Defense (@RPDefense)April 18, 2013

13 July 2012 defenceweb.co.za (Reuters)

Having revolutionized warfare for the United States in the last 15 years, unmanned aerial drones are going global as the number of countries building and operating them soars.

Until now, such systems have largely been the exclusive purview of the U.S. and a handful of allies. Washington allowed Britain, Italy and Turkey to buy U.S.-built drones and operate them usually alongside U.S. forces, but largely rejected requests from other nations keen to acquire the same capability.

But that is quickly changing. U.S. firm General Atomics expects to make its first sales of an unarmed version of its Predator drones this year, with Latin America and the Middle East seen to be particularly fertile markets, Reuters reports.

"There has been very considerable international interest," retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Christopher Ames, now director of international strategic development for the company, told Reuters at this week's Farnborough International Airshow.

Flanked by video screens showing the firm's products in action in Iraq, Afghanistan and tracking pirates over the Indian Ocean, Ames said their combat record spoke for itself.

Not only were human air crew not put at risk, he said, but use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also offered huge savings in fuel and personnel costs over conventional manned aircraft.

"The nations that have been operating with us in coalition... have seen what it can do in practice," he said.. "Their conviction goes beyond what marketing hype can provide."

Privately owned San Diego-based General Atomics was one of the pioneers of early drone technology, operating them first in the Balkans in the 1990s. While the Israeli military has long embraced unmanned aircraft, recruiting specialists directly from model aircraft clubs, other air forces including that of the United States were initially distinctly skeptical.

But the wars that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001 changed all that. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere, U.S. forces have become increasingly reliant on drones ranging from tiny aircraft operated by infantrymen to those that can fly hundreds or even thousands of miles and stay aloft over 24 hours.

Under the presidency of Barack Obama in particular, they have often been the weapon of choice for targeted killings of leading al Qaeda militants, as well as a favorite tool for long-range spy flights over potentially unfriendly countries.

The winding down of combat operations in Afghanistan may reduce the current level of U.S. drone demand, industry executives say. But the global market, they suspect, is only beginning to hot up.

Until now, Washington has remained able to exercise considerable control over even those drones it has sold abroad. Britain's Royal Air Force, for example, bases the pilots flying its drones over Afghanistan at a U.S. air force base in Nevada alongside their U.S. counterparts.

That, experts say, cannot last.

DRONES PRIDE OF PLACE

"In the future, if you're a moderately serious air force... you're going to want to have at least a medium-level endurance drone with the capability to mount reconnaissance and probably deploy weapons," says Douglas Barrie, a senior fellow for aerospace at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies. "It also may or may not be stealthy... We are only at the very beginning of that now."

With aircraft such as Predator, the much longer-range Global Hawk built by Northrop Grumman Corp and the top-secret and stealthy Lockheed Martin Sentinel -- one of which crashed and was captured on an apparent mission over Iran last year -- the United States remains by far the leader of the pack.

But perhaps inevitably, the gap is closing.

At this year's Farnborough Air Show, almost every major international aircraft maker brought with them their own latest drone. Outside its large chalet, Britain's BAE Systems displayed its long-range Taranis stealth UAV prototype in prime position alongside its Hawk trainer -- the aircraft used by the RAF's Red Arrows display team -- as well as a World War Two-era Spitfire.

"What we're looking at is effectively jumping straight to the next generation," said Martin Rowe-Wilcocks, BAE head of international business development for future combat air systems. "We're able to look at those systems that are already in service and learn from them."

Israel has long sold small unarmed drones to a range of countries, but other producers are also muscling in. Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported in April that Russia hoped to fly its first prototype domestically produced armed drone as soon as 2014.

China has made it clear it is interested in building similar systems, and both countries are expected to have done what they can to persuade Tehran to share its captured Sentinel.

As demand but also international competition rises, some U.S. firms worry Washington's attempts to slow the spread of drone technology may leave it falling behind.

Diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show several countries including United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia asking U.S. officials to buy armed drones but being rebuffed.

Washington says its commitments to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a non-binding international agreement designed to limit the spread of long-range precision weaponry, restrict drone export.

U.S. FIRMS DISADVANTAGED?

Industry leaders warn that could see the U.S. drone sector going the way of its commercial satellite production, effectively strangled by export controls seen as effectively killing its dominance of the sector just as new rivals emerge.

"The unmanned area is growing by leaps and bounds," says Marion Blakey, president of the Aerospace Industries Association. "The Missile Technology Control Regime is something that really needs to be addressed because it's disadvantaging U.S. industry."

The export-variant Predator, General Atomics says, should deal with some of those concerns. It will have no "hard points" to attach missiles and would be deliberately engineered to make adding new weaponry impossible, it says.

Retailing at $3-4 million an item, the unarmed export drone is way cheaper than most equivalent aircraft, Ames said.

"There are countries that for a long time have been asking for Predator," he said. "It (the export variant) opens that up to us."

Other U.S. defense firms are also investing growing quantities of their own money in new and innovative UAVs. Boeing recently test-flew its prototype "Phantom Eye", a high-altitude drone capable of staying airborne for days at a time.

Even if foreign markets remain sometimes off-limits, the Pentagon is seen as still keen to expand the use of drones into new areas. Lockheed Martin says it is investing in unmanned technologies and plans to compete for a future U.S. Navy contract to build a next-generation drone that will operate from aircraft carriers.

That contest is also likely to include Northrop Grumman Corp, maker of the X-47B, a U.S. Navy program that is demonstrating some of the initial capabilities that would be packed on the future carrier drones.

Officials say Britain is also increasingly interested in naval drones to operate from carriers as well as a range of smaller warships. But BAE's Rowe-Wilcocks says the real growth area will ultimately be the civilian sector.

Within a decade or so, he believes unmanned aircraft will routinely operate in European air space, providing surveillance for law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol and a host of other functions.

"The test will be whether the public will accept unmanned aircraft overhead in the way they accept those with someone in the cockpit," he says. "At this stage, I think we're more or less there technologically. It is really going to be a regulatory and particularly cultural challenge."

25 décembre 2011 - Armenews.com

Le ministère israélien de la Défense a ordonné d’annuler un important contrat de fourniture à la Turquie de systèmes radars équipant des avions, ont indiqué jeudi les médias israéliens.

Selon les médias qui citent un responsable du ministère de la Défense ayant requis l’anonymat, le contrat signé en 2009 avec la Turquie par la société israélienne Elbit Systems et les Industries aériennes israéliennes porte sur un montant de 140 millions de dollars (107 millions d’euros).

Interrogé par l’AFP sur les raisons de cette annulation, le ministère de la Défense a indiqué qu’il “n’a pas pour habitude de s’expliquer sur ses décisions (...) qui sont prises sur une base professionnelle en vertu de considérations sécuritaires et diplomatiques“.

Le journal en ligne Ynet a pour sa part estimé que le ministère de la Défense avait décidé d’annuler ce contrat, de crainte qu’Ankara ne transfère ces équipements ultra-sophistiqués à des tiers qui lui sont hostiles.

Selon la première chaîne publique de la télévision israélienne, Israël s’inquiète surtout d’un rapprochement entre la nouvelle hiérarchie militaire à Ankara et l’Iran.

Tous les autres contrats d’armes conclus par Israël et la Turquie sont maintenus, a précisé la télévision.

Les relations entre Israël et la Turquie, jadis florissantes, y compris dans le domaine de la coopération militaire, se sont considérablement dégradées, notamment après un raid meurtrier israélien contre un ferry turc qui tentait de briser le blocus de Gaza en mai 2010.

photo defencetalk.com

Jul 13 2011 trdefence.com

Roketsan is completing development of a trio of guided anti-armour weapons

Turkish Land Forces Command is the main customer, but the missiles will be marketed for exports

Since the mid-1990s Turkey’s Roketsan has firmly established itself in the design, development and production of unguided surface-to-surface rockets. During the past decade, however, the company has ventured into the more complex and demanding guided-weapons business with the development of three anti-armour systems.

All three are being manufactured under contract to the Turkish Land Forces Command (TLFC) with Roketsan as the prime contractor, and will also be offered on the export market. Several other Turkish companies are involved in the programmes, including Aselsan.

Cirit

In 2004 Roketsan began development of a 2.75-inch semi-active laser-guided missile (SALGM) called Cirit, which was originally the name of a Turkish cavalry-rooted sport played for many centuries. It was also sometimes called Jereed, meaning ‘Javelin’ – also the name of the Raytheon-Lockheed Martin man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank guided weapon [ATGW] system. Cirit was intended to provide the TLFC’s AH-1P Cobra and AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters with a precision attack capability.

Rather than upgrading its existing 2.75-inch unguided rocket, Roketsan elected to develop a new missile that could be launched from MIL-STD-810 F- and MIL-STD-464 A-compatible M- and LAU-series launchers, which are widely deployed.

Cirit has an overall length of 1.9 m and a launch weight of 15 kg. Minimum range is 1,500 m and maximum range is 8,000 m.

The SALGM has a conventional layout, with a passive SAL seeker installed in the nose, surmounting the control unit with four swing-out control surfaces, which is in turn followed by the guidance section and power source.

Further back is the multipurpose warhead, which provides a combined anti-armour, anti-personnel and incendiary effect. According to Roketsan, this is optimised to neutralise high-value soft or semi-hardened targets.

The rear of the SALGM contains the rocket motor, which is insensitive munition (IM)-compliant and has a reduced smoke signature. It is connected to the rear section by a roll bearing that enables it to rotate in flight.

There are four small stabilising surfaces at the very rear of the missile immediately in front of the exhaust nozzle.

During deployment, the gunner designates the target prior to launch, after which the rocket relies on a MEMS (micro electromechanical system)-type inertial measurement unit in combination with terminal laser homing.

According to Roketsan, Cirit has a high probability of hit on a 3×3 m target at maximum range.

First tests of Cirit were carried out in 2006, with development and flight qualification completed in 2008. Low-rate initial production has already commenced and will ramp up to full-rate production in 2012.

The company says that nearly 100 Cirit missiles of different configurations were launched during the extensive development and qualification tests. These included ballistic, control and guidance test missiles, plus qualification missiles.

As the SALGM is longer than the M- and LAU-series pods, Roketsan has developed a new launch pod and a new canister in which Cirit is delivered as an all-up round. The latter is loaded into either a two- or a four-round launch pod, which is more robust against environmental conditions than a standard launcher and easier to load and unload.

Cirit can additionally be fired from a ‘smart’ launcher, which has a MIL-STD-1760 interface. This can hold two or four SALGMs and contains all of the control electronics, enabling it to be rapidly integrated onto a number of helicopters that are required only to have a MIL-STD-1760 interface.

Roketsan signed an agreement with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in May 2011 for the integration of its Cirit Smart Launcher System on the T-129 attack helicopter, to enable data transfer between the missile and the helicopter launch platform.

Also in May, Roketsan signed a memorandum of understanding with Eurocopter for integration of Cirit on the EC635 helicopter, tests of which are planned for an unknown date.

UMTAS

Development of the UMTAS (Uzun Menzilli Tanksavar Fuze Sistemi) long-range air-launched ATGW began in 2005 with the Turkish Undersecretary of National Defence’s award to Roketsan of an initial TRY50 million (USD30.53 million), 26-month Phase I study contract. Phase I covered concept work, including subsystems such as missile propulsion, guidance and warhead.

The ATGW will be the main armament of TAI’s T-129 attack helicopter, which is a further development of the AgustaWestland A129 Mangusta. It is expected that 51 T-129s will be built to supplement the currently deployed AH-1P and AH-1W attack helicopters used by the TLFC.

The UMTAS missile is 1.8 m long and 16 cm in diameter. Launch weight is 37.5 kg and range is 500-8,000 m.

Roketsan received the Phase II contract in mid-2008. First helicopter trial launches have taken place from an AH-1P, which is being used as a testbed for the programme. Safe separation and jettison tests have also been carried out.

The launcher has a military-standard interface and weighs 60 kg. The T-129 attack helicopter would typically carry two launchers, each with four UMTAS missiles, and two launch pods with two or four Cirit 2.75-inch missiles each.

Aselsan has developed a pedestal-type launcher with four UMTAS missiles in the ready-to-launch position. This could be installed on fast attack craft or patrol boats.

In addition to lock-on-before-launch and lock-on-after-launch operational modes, UMTAS can be used against masked targets. The firing envelope enables an off-boresight target engagement.

UMTAS has completed ballistic and control test firings and is undergoing guided firing tests.

Although the first application of UMTAS will be airborne, it is also suitable for some land- and sea-based platforms.

OMTAS

A new weapon known as OMTAS (Orta Menzilli Tanksavar Sistemi) portable medium-range ATGW has grown out of UMTAS and shares several of its subsystems. These include: a nose-mounted uncooled imaging infrared (IIR) seeker developed by Aselsan; a tandem HEAT warhead optimised against targets fitted with explosive reactive armour (ERA) – the first warhead neutralises the ERA, thereby clearing a path for the larger main charge; a duplex RF datalink for uplink-downlink between the user and missile command; and other electronic subsystems.

Roketsan received an initial Phase I design contract for the OMTAS ATGW in April 2007, which it fulfilled by the end of 2009.

The system consists of a missile in its launch tube and a tripod with associated control unit and sighting unit (SU), the latter two systems together weighing about 55 kg.

The OMTAS missile has an overall length of 1.68 m and the same 16 cm diameter as UMTAS, but is slightly lighter at 35 kg, including launch tube. It has four flip-out control surfaces at the very rear and six flip-out wings about two thirds of the way down from the nose.

It has a minimum range of 200 m and maximum range of more than 4,000 m. Its solid-propellant HTPB (hydroxy terminate polybutadiene) rocket motor – also developed by Roketsan – is IM-compliant.

The SU features a thermal camera, TV camera, digital magnetic compass and laser rangefinder. It can be removed and used as a standalone observation device, providing an all-weather target battlefield surveillance capability.

OMTAS can be launched from within a confined space. It has fire-and-forget and fire-and-update modes of operation, as well as direct-attack and top-attack options for masked targets.

Although the first version of OMTAS will be tripod mounted, the ATGW can also be integrated onto tracked and wheeled platforms. During transportation and field deployment each end of the launch tube is fitted with a protective cover.

According to Roketsan, first missiles have already been successfully test fired without the IIR seeker and all-up firings are due in 2012, with design freeze scheduled for late 2012.

Ballistic performance trials have also been completed, as well as control and guidance characteristics using control test vehicles.

Full-scale development (Phase II) is still in progress in line with the original schedule, with qualification expected to take place in 2013 and production (Phase III) to commence in 2014.