In an interview with POLİGON magazine, ROKETSAN Deputy General Manager Murat Kurtuluş announced that the mass production of the Sungur air defense missile has begun. In this context:
“Our activities on air defense systems continue under the coordination of the Presidency of Defense Industries. This includes the new Trench air defense system with increased range and the blocks we're working on.
In addition, the mass production of our newly developed Sungur air defense missile has started, and mass deliveries to the Turkish Armed Forces will begin soon. Our Sungur missile is our solution to the very low altitude part of our layered air defense system. In this sense, we think that both of our products will gain great importance in the coming period.”
SUNGUR Air Defense System is an air defense missile system to be used in short-range air defense of mobile/fixed units and facilities in the battlefield and in the rear area. SUNGUR Air Defense Missile System is designed to be compatible with different platform integrations.
The 8-kilometer-range air defense missile used in the system stands out as the most important feature that distinguishes SUNGUR from its counterparts. While the missile system increases the accuracy of target hit with its Imaging Infrared Seeker (IIR) technology, it also has an important advantage in the destruction of air targets with its warhead, which has a higher explosive power than the similar system available in the inventory.
Again, the propulsion system, which enables it to be more effective at a longer range than its counterparts, and the use of sights, which allow the user to detect and view the target from a long distance before firing, are other technologies that increase the effectiveness and hit probability of the missile.
Having the Friend-Foe Identification (IFF) System that allows updating, SUNGUR also offers various advantages to the user with its ability to lock onto the target before firing and fire-forget. SUNGUR, which can be integrated with the Air Defense Early Warning and Command and Control System (HERİKKS-6), can thus perform a fully integrated task with other units on the battlefield.
The missile system, which continues to work on its integration with sea and air platforms, was integrated into the Tactical Wheeled Armored Vehicle VURAN in a short period of 3 months, as a land platform, within the framework of the urgent needs of the TAF. Standing out from its peers with its high maneuverability, SUNGUR's potential targets include fixed and rotary wing aerial platforms and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
