ASELSAN General Manager Ahmet Akyol laid out in his comments, "With SIPER, we will also have long-range high-altitude air defense in inventory. Under the leadership of our state, we will complete the end-to-end air defense layer in 2024."
Speaking in Antalya for the "Global Strategies Conference in Defense and Aviation Industry," Ahmet Akyol emphasized Türkiye's significant progress in the field of air defense.
Akyol explained that air defense consists of layered structures such as low altitude, medium altitude, and high altitude, highlighting the importance of the particulate ammunition KORKUT system in close-range air defense.
Highlighting the significant deliveries of this system to the Turkish Armed Forces, Akyol mentioned the interest from many countries in its export. He emphasized Türkiye's capability to produce, utilize, and achieve positive results in operations with its own resources, including smart ammunition, through collaboration with ASELSAN's partner organizations.
Akyol expressed their commitment to achieving a fully independent defense industry, emphasizing their exceptional performance in critical components such as radar.
He mentioned the detection of ISS passing over Türkiye using radars developed for air defense systems.
Akyol announced that SIPER will enter service this year, continuing, "With SIPER, we will also have long-range high-altitude air defense in inventory. Türkiye has reached this level with the contributions of ASELSAN, TUBITAK, ROKETSAN, and thousands of SMEs. Under the leadership of our state, we will complete the end-to-end air defense layer in 2024. There are SIPER Block-2 and SIPER Block-3. We also have our GURZ system, which we call hybrid air defense. We have made significant progress with it as well. It is a system that can engage in different scenarios simultaneously, such as launching particulate ammunition and intercepting short-range missiles from a single platform. With this understanding, I can say that it will be a year of significant developments in air defense."
Akyol emphasized that HISAR-A and HISAR-A+ have entered service, adding, "The upper layer, HISAR-O and HISAR-O+, have also entered service. We are working with our partner organization ROKETSAN to extend their range slightly with some improvements. Air defense is an area where we have localized from seeker heads to the materials used in their construction, starting from dust. Today, the unjust embargoes Turkey sometimes faces have led us to localize even to the level of dust metal. Air defense integrates all technologies from seeker heads to communication systems, from radars to electro-optical systems, from command and control to navigation, from friend-or-foe recognition systems to fire control algorithms into a single platform."
Akyol mentioned that ASELSAN introduced nearly 20 new products in 2023.
He reminded that Türkiye's first unmanned marine vehicle, MARLIN, entered Türkiye's inventory last year, stating their focus on unmanned systems not only on land and sea but also underwater.
Akyol highlighted that DERINGOZ, an unmanned underwater vehicle, is undergoing final preparations for use by a public institution for underwater activities. He concluded, "We brought products like DERINGOZ underwater, MARLIN on the surface, TUNGA, and ERTUNGA on land to significant stages in 2023, and we even exported some of them. In 2024, we will focus on new unmanned products and new export efforts."
Akyol emphasized ASELSAN's ability to integrate numerous functions into unmanned systems, from underwater sensors to radars, electro-optical systems, communication systems, and more.
Akyol mentioned their efforts to transfer defense industry technologies to civilian applications, noting the usage of domestically developed signaling systems in metro and TCDD Transportation.
He also mentioned their work in the transportation sector, stating, "We have developed a high-speed weight measurement system that can weigh vehicles carrying loads up to 120 kilometers per hour without stopping, measure their dimensions, weight per axle, instantly recognize their license plates, and do all these without stopping traffic. We exported this system to a friendly country. I thank the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for supporting national technologies."
• LONG-RANGE AIR DEFENSE against enemy attacks on strategic facilities
• Distributed Architecture
• Close and Distant Deployment Capabilities
• Multiple Engagement and Sequential Firing
• Ability to operate in challenging weather conditions
• Air defense planning and coordination
• Management and distribution of information under command and control
• Integrated Air Picture Production
• Manual/Semi-Automatic/Automatic Engagement Capability
