Türkiye, surrounded by seas on three sides, is increasing its competence in the maritime domain with the concept of the "Blue Homeland" and the development of indigenous and national defense industries. A recent contract signed between STM and Roketsan, which involves integrating ATMACA missiles into 11 platforms under the command of the Naval Forces Command, is one of the steps taken in this direction.
For a force like the Turkish Naval Forces, which is not only the power of its region but also one of NATO's and consequently a significant geographical area, the decision to opt for a domestically produced missile instead of a U.S.-made one is critical. This is because highly advanced and specific product groups are required in these fields. The Turkish Navy is not in a position to choose a missile family solely because it is local and national. After all, both the country's security and the fate of billions of dollars worth of naval elements are at stake.
Defense Industry Researcher Anıl Şahin discussed the details of the ATMACA contract and possible future developments in this field. While describing the process, Şahin uses a very clear statement: "This contract is an indication that the transformation of the Turkish Naval Forces to ATMACA has begun." He elaborates further, stating that decision-makers in the Turkish Navy are confident that ATMACA meets all the necessary criteria; otherwise, they would not make such a move.
Although the contract between STM and Roketsan is a significant step in a major transformation, Şahin believes that the expectation that all ships will be loaded with ATMACA missiles at once is not realistic.
He shares the information that there are U.S.-made Harpoon missiles with shelf life left in the inventory and suggests that the Naval Forces would want to use them in some way.
However, despite the current situation, Anıl Şahin emphasizes that change is inevitable in the near future. He states that ATMACA will have the main ship-to-ship guided missile against ship threats for the Turkish Navy in the near future.
"ATMACA would not have been adopted by the Naval Forces if it didn't have better or equivalent features compared to its counterparts," he adds and continues:
"The inventory Harpoon missiles have a range of approximately 140 kilometers, while ATMACA has a range of 250 kilometers. This alone is a significant advantage.
Anti-ship missile technology is quite challenging because these missiles need to fly very low, even 2-3 meters above the sea surface, to avoid being intercepted by the target platform. This is called 'Sea-Skimming' technology.
ATMACA has the capability to fly even lower with 'Super Sea-Skimming,' which is a step beyond. It virtually skims the sea's surface. This makes it much more difficult for the target ship to detect and intercept.
