Turkey plans short turnaround on long-range missiles in 2018
Regional conflicts have shown the importance of deep-strike capability with cruise missiles, and Turkey is now working hard to acquire it.
If I were asked what has been the outstanding conventional warfare feature of the Syrian conflict, my response would be the deep-strike capability demonstrated by US Tomahawk and Russian Kalibr-NK cruise missiles. The war in Syria demonstrated the importance of the deep-strike capability of cruise missiles, which are more accurate at long distances than the more risky and expensive warplane strikes.
Ankara has decided it urgently needs deep-strike capability to hit critical targets hundreds of miles from its borders. Officials realize armed factions affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (the PKK, which Turkey considers a terrorist group) will exist for years to come in Iraq and Syria. Long-range capability is a vital component of Turkey’s strategy to confront threats beyond its frontier.
This strategy explains why engineers in Ankara are striving to manufacture a locally made turbojet engine. Turkey's Defense Industries Research and Development Institute is doing engineering work for Ankara-based missile-maker Roketsan to manufacture an engine for the standoff missile (SOM) with a 300-kilometer (186-mile) range. The turbojet engine is similar to those for Gezgin and Atmaca missiles.
The SOM-A and SOM-B1 have been mounted on Turkish air force and F-4 2020 jets since 2013, equipped with French-made TR-40 turbojet engines.
