Turkey starts mass production of new naval torpedo, missile systems

The Turkish Navy's Ada-class corvette TCG Kınalıada (F-514) test-fires an Atmaca anti-ship missile in the Black Sea in early November 2019. (Roketsan)

Turkey has begun serial production of its indigenously developed Akya heavyweight torpedo (HWT), Atmaca surface-to-surface anti-ship guided missile, and Sapan anti-aircraft air-defence missile.

A contract signing ceremony to start mass producing the three weapon systems, which were developed by Turkish manufacturer Roketsan, was held on 20 January, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense (MND) confirmed the same day.

In development since 2009, Roketsan's Akya HWT achieved initial operational capability on 27 December 2023 after completing its first successful test-firing with a live warhead from the Turkish Navy's first-of-class Type 209/1400 diesel-electric submarine (SSK), TCG Preveze (S-353). During the test, which took place in the eastern Mediterranean, Akya was launched from Preveze and hit the decommissioned Cherokee-class tugboat TCG Gazal (ex-USS Sioux ) with pinpoint accuracy from a distance of 12,000 yd and sank it.

The Akya HWT is a new-generation 533 mm submarine-launched anti-ship and anti-submarine torpedo with an overall length of around 7 m, a weight of 1,500 kg, a top speed of more than 45 kt, and a maximum range of more than 50 km. It features an integrated active/passive homing head with acoustic counter-countermeasure capability, is fully autonomous and fibre-optic wire-guided, and uses wake-homing guidance against surface targets. The propulsion system comprises a brushless DC electric motor (BLDC), two contrarotating propellers, and a high-energy chemical battery.