Turkey’s Atmaca (“Hawk”) anti-ship cruise missile is part of the country’s growing push to rely on domestic systems rather than foreign-produced technologies.
Turkey continues its breakneck military expansion and modernization plan at a time when the militaries of the other great powers are exhausted from years of ceaseless warfare. Indeed, Turkey was one of the few great powers in the last 20 years to have avoided major warfare.
As a result, they have great economic and technological depth—and can afford a massive expansion of their military.
According to Cem Devrim Yaylali of Defense News, the Turkish Navy has “conducted a successful firing test of the submarine-launched variant of the Atmaca anti-ship missile.” The test occurred on March 12, and was launched from the submarine TCG Preveze off the coast of Mersin in the Mediterranean Sea.
The missile itself was “encased in a watertight capsule equipped with a propeller, designed to fit the submarine’s 533 mm torpedo tube.”
Turkey is only the latest major power to invest in advanced anti-ship missile capabilities. Indeed, China, Russia, and even Iran and North Korea have spent the last decade developing considerable anti-ship missile capabilities.
Turkey’s Strategic Context
This is all in anticipation of being able to counteract great power threats. For China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, improved anti-ship capabilities mean they can seriously complicate power projection by the U.S. Navy in their domains.
Turkey also wants these systems to better complicate their regional challengers. In the Black Sea, for instance, Ankara faces the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet based in Sevastopol, Crimea. In the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, Turkey’s Navy competes with the Greek Navy.
What’s more, Turkey’s Navy is challenged by Egyptian and even Israeli naval forces. Having advanced anti-ship missiles is a surefire way the Turks can maintain their competitive edge over their regional foes.
Over the years, Turkey has developed their “Blue Homeland” doctrine. It emphasizes naval dominance in the Aegean, Black, and Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
A key component of this Blue Homeland project is to be as self-sufficient as possible. Turkey learned the limits of their NATO membership in 2013, when the Obama administration refused to sell Turkey a tranche of Patriot missiles. Ever since then, Turkey has moved quickly to build out its own defensive systems rather than relying on foreign-built systems.
About The Atmaca System
Turkey’s Atmaca (meaning “Hawk”) anti-ship cruise missile is built by the Turkish defense firm Roketsan. It is part of the growing push by the Turkish leadership to rely more on domestically produced systems rather than foreign-produced technologies. For instance, the Atmaca is designed to replace the aging Boeing RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile.
Atmaca is a subsonic, sea-skimming, precision-guided weapon tailored for all-weather operations. Its development began in 2009 under a contract from Turkey’s Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (now the Presidency of Defense Industries, or simply SSB), with full-scale work beginning around September 2012, leveraging prior research from the Turkish Navy’s Research Center Command (ARMERKOM).
Officially, the range of Atmaca is 137 miles, with some tests suggesting the system could make it to around 155 miles, depending on the configuration of the weapon. A 551-pound high-explosive fragmentation warhead capable of inflicting severe damage on naval targets is the real killer feature of this impressive weapon.
The Atmaca relies on its low-flight profile as opposed to speed for survival. Indeed, its flight profile is indicative of this. When launched, the Atmaca conducts “sea-skimming” maneuvers, with a flight profile as low as three-to-nine-feet above the water once it reaches its terminal phase.
In terms of its guidance systems, the Atmaca relies on a combination of Global Positioning System (GPS) and inertial navigation system (INS), along with a barometric altimeter and radar altimeter for precise pathfinding. Once the system reaches its terminal phase, the Atmaca switches over to an active radar seeker for pinpoint accuracy. A datalink allows for real-time target updates, mission abort, or re-attack options mid-flight, too.
A French TR-40 turbojet was originally planned to be the engine of the Atmaca. But, since last year, the Turks are relying on the domestically produced KTJ-3200 turbojet from Kale Ar-Ge, further enhancing the country’s defense autonomy.
A Family of Turkish-Made Anti-Ship Systems
The submarine-launched Atmaca system joins a ship-launched and a land-based, surface-to-surface variant that was tested last August. The Turkish government plans to sell an export variant of the Atmaca system. Customers are already lining up: Indonesia has ordered 45 missiles, Algeria signed a deal for this system in June 2022 for an undisclosed number of Atmacas, and Bangladesh has signed a billion-dollar Roketsan contract that includes the Atmaca system.
Of course, this system is not without its downsides. Its most glaring weakness is the subsonic speed at which it travels. Because of the missiles’ relative slow speeds, advanced Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS) stand a much better chance of destroying them before they can find their target.
Nevertheless, Turkey has made impressive strides toward becoming a dominant regional power. The advent of the Atmaca anti-ship cruise missile is just one of many examples of this reality.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter@WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock / twintyre.