Kaner Kurt's Experts SohbetGürcan Okumuş, Director of TUBITAK SAGE, who participated in the broadcast of Okumuş announced that it is aimed to carry out the firing tests of the GÖKHAN ramjet propelled air-to-air missile in 2023. GÖKHAN's name was announced for the first time by the Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar at the ceremony held for the delivery of 3 units of HGK-1000 at the 82rd Air Maintenance Factory Directorate in Etimesgut.
Gürcan Okumuş, about GÖKHAN: “Gökhan is a project that really excites us. As TUBITAK SAGE, we worked intensively on air-to-air missiles and went through difficult stages, but we achieved significant gains. The foundation of the GÖKHAN project comes from the GÖKTUĞ project. GÖKHAN will be a ramjet air-to-air missile with very effective thrust control, the project has officially started and our work continues. First, the ramjet will reach a certain maturity, then we will bring this missile together from the ground and shoot it, and when the missile reaches the desired maturity, we will launch it from the air platforms. I think that from 2023, test shots will start at different levels.” He made statements and stated that his priority platform for GÖKHAN would be the F-16.
Gürcan Okumuş, 18. Network Based Sohbets said in our publication that the necessary test infrastructure for ramjet tests has been completed at TÜBİTAK SAGE, “We are currently testing the ramjet with our own test infrastructure. Of course, there is still work to be done, but since we have a test infrastructure, for example, we have probably been able to perform more than 100 ignition tests so far. Without this infrastructure, we will do this with much more difficult means and under expensive conditions. Turkey has made an important progress at this point. This is a welcome development.” had statements.
Pointing out that GÖKDOĞAN and BOZDOĞAN can also be used as air defense missiles that can be launched from different platforms, and that such examples exist in the world, Okumuş also mentioned that GÖKHAN is also considered as a ramjet-propelled air defense missile.
Contrary to popular belief, ramjet propelled air defense missiles are quite old, but still an unconventional concept. One of the first examples of this is the Soviet-made 1965M9 ramjet propelled air defense missiles, which were put into use in 8. Having a maximum range of 55 km and a maximum altitude of 24.5 km, these missiles could reach a speed of 4 Mach. The 9M8, which can be considered gigantic in terms of size, had similar dimensions to its carrier platform.
A modern ramjet air defense missile will have higher fuel economy in long-range shots, thanks to the ability to adjust the thrust and even toggle it on and off compared to its rocket-powered counterparts in close tonnage. This will be a plus for both effective range and terminal kinetic performance. In addition, ramjet air defense missiles will not experience such a problem or will experience less, compared to rocket-powered air defense missiles, which have lower range-kinetic performance values than those in air firing, due to the initial velocity being 0 when firing from land or surface.
Gökdoğan and Bozdoğan to enter mass production in 2022
Stating that the ground tests of the GÖKDOĞAN beyond vision and BOZDOĞAN vision air missiles developed within the scope of the GÖKTUĞ project have been completed and the tests from the aircraft continue, Okumuş stated that the final stages have been reached, but that new test shots are in question for 2022. He added that 2022 is targeted for mass production.
Stating that the project hysteria of the GÖKDOĞAN air-air missile is 65 km, Gürcan Okumuş stated that when the project is completed, they will have an air-to-air missile with a capability and range far beyond this requirement. GÖKDOĞAN stated that if a project is made for the air-to-air missile, it will be able to push 2 km very quickly with the improvements and studies to be done in Phase-100, and even solutions for much longer ranges can be developed with some future technological gains.
On April 7, 2021, a fire test was carried out under the coordination of 4 F-16 aircraft of the Air Force Command and the tanker aircraft of the 10th Tanker Base Command. BOZDOĞAN, thrown by the F-16, had destroyed the TUSAŞ ŞİMŞEK target aircraft with a direct hit. BOZDOĞAN, which has a range of 25 km, has a weight of 140 kg and a maximum speed of 4 Mach.
When asked about the use of F-16 Block 50/+ versions for GÖKDOĞAN and BOZDOĞAN, he replied that it could be used in SİHAs as well as F-16s of different models and that he could not give details on integration, but that there were different solutions. As it is known, studies are continuing for the use of GÖKDOĞAN and BOZDOĞAN missiles in Akıncı Attack Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.
Source: defenceturk
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