IDEF 2023 – MKE 20 YHSS mm naval close-in weapon systems goes on land

At IDEF 2023 MKE unveiled the land version of its YHSS CIWS system, mounted on a trailer, which makes it a mobile asset for defending critical land assets

At IDEF 2021 MKE (Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi kurumu A.Ş., Machinery and Chemical Industry Inc.), unveiled the Yakin Hava Savunma Sistemi (YHSS) short range air defence system. A Phalanx-looking system, it is based on a six-barrel electrically powered Gatling gun with a rate of fire between 3,000 and 4,000 rounds per minute, according to company latest information. Born as a last-ditch defence against missiles, this type of system can be effective also against drones and loitering munitions, therefore MKE followed the same path of the United States putting its YHSS on a trailer, to make it a mobile land effector.

The system is installed on a trailer; at the front we find two 100kW generators, which provide the 400-440 VAC 50-60 Hz electric power needed to operate the system. These are followed by the YHSS, which weighs less than 3,500 kg without gun and ammunition. The ammunition drum is the same used in the naval version, and contains 1,500 20×102 mm rounds. The gun has a maximum elevation of +85° and depression of -15°, and an angular velocity of 100±10 °/s.

Following the weapon system itself we find the operators cabin, hosting two consoles each with a joystick and two screens. On one screen the radar picture was visible, another showing the images from optronic sensors suite that includes a day camera and a cooled thermal camera, plus a laser rangefinder.

According to MKE information the system can also be remotely controlled, while the radar picture can be integrated with information coming from other sensors present in the area and connected to the land YHSS.

At the back of the trailer we find two boxes used to contain equipment of different types, camouflage nets being an example. Overall the trailer has a weight around 10 tonnes.

The system was painted gray, which shows its naval origin, and possibly a naval use also for the land-based version; EDR On-Line understood that the Turkish Navy might well adopt the system for base protection, leveraging the full commonality with future embarked systems, thus lowering the logistic and training footprint.

No information was released on the status of the programme, although the key element, the YHSS weapon system, has already been fully tested in the past years.

Photos by P. Valpolini