The Gökdoğan missile and the Bozdoğan missile contain technologies that are far superior to their predecessors in terms of their features. Although Turkey has been removed from the F-35 project, the modernized F-16s will be able to use these missiles. So, what is the significance of this project, which is the result of 9 years of work?
Gökdoğan and Bozdoğan missiles will enter the inventory by the end of the year!
Gökdoğan missile and Bozdoğan missile, which were exhibited at the TÜBİTAK SAGE stand at the IDEF fair held for the first time in 2017, continued their test activities for the past 4 years. It has been announced that it will be taken into inventory by the end of this year.
Sharing the video above from his social media accounts, the President of the Defense Industry said:
GÖKDOĞAN will hit the invisible! Within the scope of our GÖKTUĞ Project, our #GÖKDOĞAN Beyond Vision Missile, one of our national air-to-air missiles, has fired with a radar seeker and another important phase has been completed.
We will deliver our GÖKDOĞAN and BOZDOĞAN missiles to the Turkish Armed Forces this year. I congratulate everyone who contributed to this holiday gift we gave to our nation.
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Bozdogan missile characteristics
Bozdoğan missile is a short-range air-to-air missile in terms of its characteristics. It is usually thrown from an airplane or helicopter. In addition, we can directly say that it will replace the US-made AIM-9 Sidewinder, which Turkey has purchased for 60 years and whose unit cost exceeds 90 thousand dollars, and that it is a much improved version in terms of features.
As we are used to seeing in short-range missiles, Bozdoğan also uses a solid fuel engine. On the front, there is an infrared scanner system. But the most advanced version has IIR, that is, electro-optical thermal scanning system.
This advanced feature allows aircraft to now fight each other without getting into a dogfight. In other words, there is no need to get behind the enemy element and lock it. Instead, it is sufficient for the pilot to see the target through his helmet by looking at a target in his line of sight.
In addition, thanks to this head, since the missiles focus on the entirety of the aircraft by scanning in 3D, not on the engine temperature of the aircraft, it can follow its main target instead of aiming at surprising targets. Its range is shared as 25-35 km.
Gokdogan missile characteristics
The Gökdoğan missile, on the other hand, is a medium-range air-to-air missile. This missile, on the other hand, has an active radar system, not infrared, as a guidance kit. We don’t see much infrared systems in medium and long range missiles anyway. Its working principle is very different from Bozdoğan.
A fighter jet can see it on the radar system long before it engages with an enemy element. This is of course also related to the competence of the aircraft. Because this distance can be 50 kilometers or 200 kilometers.
When the pilot sees an airplane on his radar, he shares this data with Gökdoğan and fires it early. Although the missile travels for a long time by using the data it receives from the aircraft, it activates its own radar before approaching the target, searches for the target and destroys it by locking. Its range is shared as 65+ km. A range of 35-80 km is already in the acceptable range for this type of missile.
The main reason for the delay of the Göktuğ family, the foundations of which were laid in 2013 and the first tests were carried out in 2018, is that Turkey wanted to use these missiles with the F-35 and even sell them to other users after certification studies. However, after being removed from the F-35 project, these missiles were no longer an emergency.
However, it is possible to use it with the F-16s on the block50 or with the modernized versions that can use the helmet we mentioned. For this reason, it will be a big plus that they will be taken into inventory by the end of the year.
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