Turkey successfully test fires first cruise missile with penetrating warhead

Turkey's first domestically-made cruise missile with a penetrating warhead successfully completed its test firing, Science and Industry Minister Mustafa Varank announced late Thursday.

Developed by the Defense Research and Development Institute (SAGE) of Turkey's Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBİTAK), test fired the SOM-B2 missile — a high explosive blast fragmentation warhead variant of the stand-off missile (SOM).

Varank shared a video on his Twitter account that showed the missile successfully hitting its target, which was a bunker with a concrete roof.

According to Ismail Demir, the head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), with the latest test firing, SOM-B2 successfully concluded its development, ground and flight tests.

The missile will be used by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) against hardened targets or targets buried deep underground.

The SOM missile family, designed for use against ground and sea targets, comes in different variants including the SOM-A, SOM-B1, SOM-B2, and SOM-J.

The missiles have an operational range of more than 250 kilometers and offer low visibility, high precision, resistance/endurance against mixing measures, network-based movement suitability, engagement with opportunity targets and selection between pre-planned tasks and target definition during flight, selectable stroke parameters and universal weapon interface compatibility.