Turkey Test Fires Atmaca Anti-Ship Missile from MILGEM Corvette

On 04 November 2019, the Turkish Defense Industries Presidency (SSB) announced that the Turkish Navy’s TCG Kinaliada, a MILGEM Ada-class anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, successfully test-fired an Atmaca anti-ship cruising missile (ASCM).

The Undersecretariat of Defense Industries (SSM) initiated the development of the Atmaca ASCM in 2009 by awarding Roketsan the contract to research and develop the system.

Turkey announced a successful test-firing of the Atmaca ASCM from land in 2017. Tests were completed in November 2018, with the SSB awarding Roketsan a serial production contract around that time.

According to Turkey’s state-owned news agency, Anadolu Agency, the Atmaca ASCM will enter service with the Turkish Navy by mid-2020. It will also replace the Turkish Navy’s inventory of Harpoon ASCMs.

The Atmaca ASCM weighs under 800 kg. It delivers a 250 kg warhead up to a range of over 200 km. It uses a ‘high explosive with penetration’ warhead type.

For mid-course navigation, the Atmaca uses INS/GPS as well as barometric altimeter and radar altimeter systems. In terminal-stage flight, it relies on an active radar-homing (ARH) seeker.

The Atmaca relies on a Microturbo TRI 40 miniature turbojet engine, which also powers Roketsan’s Stand-off Missile (SOM) air-launched cruise missile (ALCM).