Turkish President on Wednesday said that Turkey has become one of the few countries to own air-to-air missile technology. The Turkish-made Bozdoğan successfully hit the target after being fired from a jet towards an aerial-borne object.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took to Twitter to thank the developers behind the project while saying, “Our air-to-air in-sight missile Bozdoğan, developed by our young technicians and engineers in the Göktuğ project, hit the target at the first shot.”
Türkiye, havadan havaya füze teknolojisine sahip sayılı ülkelerden biri olmayı başardı.
Genç teknisyen ve mühendislerimizin GÖKTUĞ projesinde geliştirdiği görüş içi hava-hava füzemiz BOZDOĞAN, ilk atışta hedefi tam isabetle vurdu.
Gençlere #Maşallah 🚀#MilliTeknolojiHamlesi🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/20P3RCbdtE
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) April 14, 2021
A video showing the first shot of Within Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (WVRAAM) was shared too. The target was a high-speed UAV named Simsek, which belongs to Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
Turkey has been making strides in the defense and aviation industry in recent years. Various Turkish companies have made significant achievements in research and development.
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According to Daily Sabah ( a Turkish pro-government daily paper, published in Turkey), the Bozdoğan completed its guided launch pad test firing in November 2019 and was set to enter the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) after it completes air-launch tests and is integrated into military aircraft.
It must be noted that this Goktug project that is developing these missiles aims to develop two variants of air-to-air missiles. Defense Industries Research and Development Institute (SAGE) developed this Bozdoğan as a long-range active radar seeker missile, while the other variant Gokdogan is developed as short-range, high maneuverability, infra-red seeker missile.
Both missiles come with high thrust-low smoke solid-fuel technology, a full electronic rocket engine safe start and ignition system with high reliability and safety level, and a continuous fuse ensuring high safety and reliability.
It must be remembered that the Gokdogan missile successfully completed its test in January 2020 by fully engaging the target.
The work by SAGE on these projects began in 2013, and both air-to-air missiles were introduced by Turkey at the 13th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF 2017) and both missiles underwent ballistic launches from the ground.
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