SAHA Expo 2024 – Roketsan unveils three new laser guided solutions
Roketsan, the Turkish missile specialist, took profit of SAHA Expo 2024 to unveil three laser guided solutions aimed at improving land forces effectiveness
The first to be unveiled in the afternoon of Day 1 at the Istanbul Expo Centre was the Pusu, a Toyota Hilux vehicle fitted with a Cirit quadruple launcher. The Cirit missile is not new, “we produced the first one in 2011,” Mustafa Odabaş, Market Development and PR Director at Roketsan tells EDR On-Line. The 2.75” laser guided missile was originally developed as an air-to-ground gap-filler between unguided rockets of the same calibre and missiles, however with time it has also become a surface-to-surface support weapon, its 8 km range ensuring pinpoint accuracy at distance.
The 4-rockets pod has already be seen installed on an M113 tracked APC, Roketsan unveiling at the Istanbul exhibition a light solution developed to answer Special Forces requirements. The 4×4 fast attack vehicle hosts the rocket launcher at the rear, on a tracking platform allowing full movement in azimuth and sufficient elevation to fully exploit the Cirit range. On top of the vehicle we find the optronic system which includes a day TV channel, a night thermal channel, and the laser designator that ensures the rocket guidance. Target illumination can however be carried out by a third party, such as an SF operator, an unmanned air vehicle, a helicopter or other players on the battlefield. Four rockets are available in the pos while four other are carried, two on each side of the vehicle roof, which gives the Pusu a considerable firepower considering the size of the vehicle. Talking to Roketsan representatives EDR On-Line understood that the Cirit found a new customer, Italy planning to equip its UAVs with the Turkish guided rocket system.
Remaining in the direct fire support, the second system unveiled at SAHA Expo was the L-OMTAS, the acronym for Orta Menzilli Tanksavar Silah Sistemi, Medium Range Anti-Tank Weapon System in Turkish language. The original OMTAS is fitted with an Imaging Infra Red seeker and has a range of 4 km. Based on Turkish Land Forces lessons learned, Roketsan developed a laser guided version of the missile the L-OMTAS, the “L” standing of course for Laser, the semi-active laser system allowing considerable cost saving while maintaining metric accuracy. Not only, the new missile has also a longer range, as it can hit its target at 5.5 km distance. With a length of 1.75 metres and a diameter of 160 mm, it has a weight at launch of 32 kg and can carry different types of warheads, tandem high explosive, anti-tank blast, fragmentation or thermobaric.
Last but not least comes something quite new for the Turkish missile producer. The LG-155 is a 155 mm artillery round, LG standing for Laser Guided. It is the first time that Roketsan deals with an artillery munition, the company aiming at exploiting its wide experience in laser guidance to develop a solution that answers today needs, the Ukrainian conflict having demonstrated the renewed importance of artillery. The project aims at providing Turkish Land Forces with a national munition, the Army being fully involved in the project giving its advice based on lessons learned in the recent past. Among the three systems unveiled, the LG-155 is definitely the one still in the initial development phase. Developing a laser guidance kit that can withstand the acceleration of the round in a 52-calibre tube is not easy task, while Roketsan should be at ease in solving the issues once the round is in flight. The LG-15 will have a mass of 50 kg, 22 kg being the high explosive filling, the estimated range being 25 km, no details being provided on the barrel length considered. According to company sources the project can be considered at TRL 3-4, a prototype being expected in two years time. Plans for production have not yet been drafted, the production of the shell and its filling with explosive being among the issues under discussion.
Photos by P. Valpolini
