Screengrab. Source: Roketsan.
On May 23, Turkey’s defense giant Roketsan announced that it had successfully test-fired the Tayfun [Turkish for Typhoon] short-range ballistic missile in the country’s Black Sea province of Rize.
Ismail Demir, the head of Türkiye’s Defense Industries Presidency, congratulated the team involved in the test without providing any details. Video footage of the test only showed the successful launch of the missile.
Roketsan tested the Tayfun in October of last year. Back then, the ballistic missile hit a target from 560 kilometers away with high accuracy.
The specifications of the missile remain unknown. However, it appears to share the same dual mobile launcher as the Bora-1 missile system, which is also produced by Roketsan. The Bora-1 has a range of 280 kilometers, a warhead weighing 470 kg and is guided by a GPS-aided inertial navigation system.
Turkey’s missile program saw a major boost in the last few years. The Tayfun is not the country’s largest missile. Rokestan has been developing a medium-range ballistic missile dubbed, Cenk, for a while now. First footage of the highly-secretive missile was released earlier this month.
By developing advanced ballistic missiles, Ankara is not only boosting its offensive capabilities, but also cementing its status as a major power in the Middle East.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC:
