Turkey pushes new precision-guided weapons and rockets
Ankara is following Western, Chinese and Israeli achievements by building miniature, hypersonic and ‘directed-energy’ weapons.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANTurkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during the re-opening of the Ottoman-era Yildiz Hamidiye mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, August 4, 2017(photo credit: MURAD SEZER/REUTERS)
Turkey is rapidly expanding its rocket-engine capabilities in an effort to build its weapons industry.In recent years, Ankara has increased its capabilities in the defense sector by investing heavily in new drones and missiles. It wants to achieve total independence from Western manufacturers. To this end, it has purchased the Russian S-400 system and is seeking to build its own planes, tanks, drones, missiles, naval missiles and other systems.Turkey exports arms and uses them in conflicts from Iraq to Syria and Libya. It is also building bases in countries such as Qatar and Somalia, seeking to become the leading military power in the Middle East with abilities to project power to Central Africa and Asia.In a speech on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is starting space trials for a liquid-propellant rocket engine, Anadolu state-run news agency reported.Erdogan praised the defense company Rokestan for its abilities. Liquid propellant is also used by Iran’s regime in ballistic missiles.“We will also continue our efforts to develop hybrid-fuel rocket engines,” Erdogan said. This is “high-capacity hydrogen fuel-cell technology,” the report said. It also included GPS receivers “for precision-guided munitions.”This clearly indicates that what Turkey is doing is not about space, but about a massive increase in defense technology to produce the kind of precision weapons that countries such as Iran, the US and Israel have achieved. Turkey says these precision-guided munitions with GPS receivers have been produced domestically for the first time.Turkey is following Western, Chinese and Israeli achievements by building miniature weapons, hypersonic weapons and “directed-energy weapons.”The defense industry was working directly with the government, Erdogan said, adding: “We never accept products from abroad that we can make in the country.”The defense industry has been brought back to life, inspired by the country’s “glorious” heritage, he said.
Turkey has been on a nationalist binge lately, with new threats to Greece and other countries, and it brags about historic battles and turning historic churches into mosques.Now, Turkey says it is one of the top makers of armed drones. “Our Bayraktar UAV can easily hit targets with its laser-guided 230-mm. missile system,” the report said.Turkey uses its drones against Kurdish fighters in Iraq and against adversaries in Syria and Libya. It wants to export them to Ukraine, Tunisia and other states.The US rarely exports armed drones, so countries such as Turkey and China have sponged up the market for these weapons.Turkey links its new advances to challenges in the Mediterranean, where it faces off against Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, France and the UAE.
