Is It Time To Market Turkish Air Defense Systems?

Architecture of Russian Air Defense Weapons:

It is understandable that Russian air defense systems are preferred by many countries in the world. Because if you put a white page in front of you and you want to draw an air defense system for it, you will see that the most logical and correct drawings are similar to Russian air defense systems. In medium range air defense systems, for example, the BUK M3 is by far the most magnificent architectural philosophy weapon system among similar systems. This is true in many other fields as well. So, why couldn't these systems be able to defend effectively against armed UAVs, contrary to expectations?

Lack of Russian Air Defense Systems:

In my opinion, this correct architecture and philosophy on paper in the field of Russian missile defense systems was not produced using correct and effective technologies. The theory could not give the expected output in practice. Since these systems, which are supposed to be high-tech products, are not supported by appropriate technologies, they have not escaped being described as "ineffective" systems, no matter how perfect their working logic. One reason for this is that the Russians have a habit of using even such immature systems to appear strong and intimidate their opponents. As you know, the perfect is the enemy of the good and the possible. The Russians thought that they could win the war by putting the "bearskin" on the field as the "bear". But you know war is where all the reality of life solidifies the fastest.

There is a common saying in Anatolia: "The owner of the straw, the owner of it, the harvest gives the news". First of all, at the end of the threshing, he must wait for how much wheat goes into his barn. Just like this, no one should show off to those around them without seeing the end of their work, and they should wait for the result of the work to be happy.

Layered Air Defense Systems:

All armies, whether from the eastern or western school, have a habit of building air defense in a layered structure. It acts with a defense prediction in layers as very low, low, medium, high altitude and extra-atmospheric / upper atmosphere. When we look at air defense systems from this point of view, we can divide these systems into five groups. Among these groups, intermediate solutions for intermediate layers and modern approaches may be preferred by some countries. An example of this is the Israeli Iron Dome system. Of course, the missile defense systems in the hands of every country do not have the capabilities to cover all these layers. It cannot be expected.

Difference Between Attack and Defense Philosophies:

Some countries may not need to develop measures for some layers due to their nature. For example, having low and medium altitude air defense systems is not seen as a necessity for the USA, which has built its army structure entirely on the understanding of attack and attack. Because it is already an attacking force and its priority / need is to have an air force with the ability and competence to carry out operations in any threat environment. This fundamental technological capability underlies the superiority of the American military aviation industry and its influence on other world armies.

Warfighting Philosophy of Turkish Air Force:

The Turkish Air Force has taken the American Air Force as a role model for quite a long time. Perhaps for this reason, the Turkish Army; It has also placed the responsibility of having or not having air defense systems on this force. It did not establish a separate air defense arm, and did not even favor the efforts of all other forces to have a share in this area. However, the demands of the Air Force, which has been trying to supply long-range and multi-layer air defense systems, especially for the last 30-35 years, could not be met for various reasons. Since this issue is quite deep and intricate, I do not consider it necessary to mention the reasons why we did not have air defense systems until today, as it is out of our subject.

Development of National Production Facilities:

On the other hand, the Turkish defense industry, which has difficulties in foreign procurement of missile defense systems, has focused on defense systems developed with domestic and national air resources. In this context, a system continues to be developed to cover all layers of air defense in a separate half. As it turns out, a step-by-step strategy from simple to difficult has been adopted in the production of these systems.

By the way, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that all of the systems that have entered the production phase in our country are designed and shaped for a certain range of needs. The envisaged want/need framework has been determined, in general terms, to fully cover the air defense needs of an army and operation field, no matter how mobile, with a network-centered approach. nature 

It is aimed that all systems to be developed as of today will comply with NATO standards. In the design of defense systems, the use of open architecture has been adopted and the principle of continuity in product development has been taken as a basis within the framework of the development of a higher version of each system produced.

Some of the Systems Produced in Turkey:

In accordance with the aforementioned production philosophy, a self-propelled artillery system for very low altitudes, the gun-barred Korkut and particulate ATOM ammunition were developed.

The Sungur MANPADS system is a system designed to be mounted on the vehicle at low altitude or to be thrown from the shoulder by a single soldier.

Hisar A+ has been developed to cover low altitude. This system can work together with Korkut in full harmony. It is even possible to strengthen pre-+ productions by distribution to Korkut systems.

The Hisar O+ system to handle medium altitude is under development and is expected to be included in the inventory soon.

Hisar A+ and O+ systems have missiles with IIR heads. The pre-selection of this technology has enabled these weapon systems to perform effective interception against multiple targets at the same time.

We are witnessing positive developments in the press for the Siper weapon family, which is planned for higher altitudes and has not yet started production.

Could There Be a Turkish Solution to NATO Needs?

Most NATO countries do not yet have an air defense system family that is as comprehensive and up-to-date as these multi-layered weapon systems designed and produced by Turkey, designed by taking into account the needs of defense or attack, and produced by taking into account the needs of dynamic operations. Considering the labor, know-how acquisition and reflection of modern technologies in production, any country that would like to proceed from the path of the Turkish defense industry from the system definition stage to the final production line will need to spend time for a production of approximately five years. From this point of view, the point Turkey has reached and the level of experience it has gained are very valuable and important. For this reason, Turkey is about to reach an infrastructure and technology competence that can offer ready-made solutions for most countries that do not have time, and that can produce missile defense systems that can respond to all layers, including joint production, according to the wishes of the user country.

An Answer to Urgent Supply Needs: Turkish Systems:

In this context, I think it is necessary to launch a comprehensive "missile defense systems" promotion activity for countries that think they are facing the "Russian threat", especially Poland, Hungary, Finland and Germany, which are considered to need missile defense systems in the near future. These activities should be carried out in a coordinated manner from a single center, in line with the themes and priorities to be determined, by making use of all media, including social media and defense media, similar to what other arms-producing countries do. This campaign should be supported by political and military contacts. Turkey should be able to lead the creation of the joint production pool by emphasizing the ownership of these national projects by NATO at the same time, especially by using NATO platforms, and the open architectural structure used in the production of the systems together with the willing countries.

Integrating Systems with Each Other:

It should be noted that defense projects from different countries, such as Poland's Sungur equivalent systems Grom and Piorun, can be integrated into the joint production pool. By using the software and hardware accumulations in Turkey's defense industry, a role can be played in the integration of these different but essentially the same weapon systems. It should be aimed to lead the process of assembling a holistic system family that will come off the production lines of many countries across NATO.

It should be acted with the understanding that the qualified and relatively cheap workforce of our country and other Eastern European countries will create the most affordable, sustainable and cost-effective solution for all European countries in this ecosystem of air defense system family that will develop and expand.

In addition, since all the costs of the development processes of this system, which has already been implemented in our country, have been paid by us, a process should be put into effect to ensure that the countries that will be included in the joint production pool can have missile defense weapon systems at the level and scale they want in a very short time.

Conclusion:

The right time for this type of pioneering initiative is now. Time requires proactive product development and marketing processes to be carried out together. The "ready Turkish answers to the set of needs" that emerged with the Russia-Ukraine War should be put on the field as soon as possible.