ANKARA, Turkey — A Turkish government research agency has started to mass-produce a new miniature munition to be fitted into the Bayraktar TB2 drone, made by a Turkish company Baykar Makina.
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Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 - shown Dec. 16, 2019, at a military air base in northern Cyprus. The government has started mass-producing a new mini missile for the aircraft, dubbed Bozok. |
The laser-guided Bozok missile was developed by TÜBİTAK Defense Industries Research and Development Institute. It has undergone multiple successful fire tests.
Turkey has supplied 96 of the TB2 drones to international clients, including Poland, the first European buyer. Defense industry officials said additional prospective buyers of Turkish-made drones include the United Kingdom, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovakia, Uruguay and Albania.
Engineers have extended the Bozok’s range from an original 9 km to 15 km, and they are working on a more effective warhead and further extension of the range. Work is currently at the firing test stage, according Gurcan Okumuş, who manages the research institute.
The Bozok is smaller and has a lighter, compact structure in comparison to the MAM-L, a munition widely used by Turkish-made combat drones. MAM-L is part of the family of domestically developed smart micro munitions.
The Bozok features precision guidance with its semi-active laser seeker, proximity sensors and optimized target effectiveness, according to TÜBİTAK.
The institute has also developed two air-to-air missiles, Bozdogan and Gokdogan, both nearing mass production.
The work on air-to-air missiles began in 2013. The research institute developed Gokdogan with a short range, high maneuverability and an infrared seeker, and Bozdogan as a long-range, active radar seeker missile.
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