Bozdogan ('Merlin') BVRAAM) Turkey has unveiled two indigenous air to air missile programs at the now concluded IDEF defense e...
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| Bozdogan ('Merlin') BVRAAM) |
Turkey has unveiled two indigenous air to air missile programs at the now concluded IDEF defense exhibition in Istanbul, Turkey.
The short range Gökdogan ('Peregrine') Within Visual Range (WVR) and the long range Bozdogan ('Merlin') beyond visual range air to air missiles (BVRAAM) are being developed by the Govt. backed Tubitak SAGE.
The Bozdogan is equipped with a solid state radio frequency (RF) seeker to home into the target and have a range of 65 km (40 miles). The missile features anti-countermeasure capability and a datalink to receive target updates in-flight from the launch aircraft.
The Peregrine is a heat seeking missile with a range of up to 30 km (20 miles) equipped with high resolution dual colour imaging infra-red seeker and also feature advanced anti counter-measure capability.
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| Peregrine with the IR Seeker head |
Peregrine is equipped with thrust vectoring capability for superior maneuverability and off boresight launch capability. Both missile uses smokeless solid propellant rocket motors.
Development of the missiles began in 2012 under the Project Goktug. Tubitak expects to complete developmental trials and platform integration within two years.
The new air to air missile will be first introduced on the Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jets and will also integrated with under-development Turkish stealth fighter program TF-X, in future.
Tubitak SAGE has also developed the SOM-J stand-off cruise missile for Turkey's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet now produced by Roketsan.
