A surprising decision by the Turkish, they have decided to produce a new missile following the launch of the new Iranian satellite over the weekend
| 5/02/2012
A rather surprising development in the region: Turkey has decided to develop surface-to-surface missiles with ranges of up to 2,500 km.
It seems that Turkey is concerned over Iranian missile ambitions. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided to begin a new Turkish development. Yücel Altınbaşak, head of the Turkish State Scientific Research Institute (TÜBİTAK) said that the “development of the missile is a realistic goal.” In internal discussions, he said that the instruction came from Prime Minister Erdoğan and was approved by the TÜBİTAK High Board of Technology.
Altınbaşak revealed that Turkey already developed a missile with a range of 500 km and a precision of 5 m supplied to the Turkish military.
TÜBİTAK initially received instructions to begin developing a ballistic missile with a range of 1,500 km. Development has begun, or will begin this year.
It is possible to discern from Altınbaşak’s words that a ballistic missile with a range of 2,500 km will be developed by 2015. Turkish sources said that Turkey might require assistance from foreign countries to achieve their goal.
Turkey is a signatory to the MTCR treaty, intended to prevent the dissemination of long-range missiles with ranges of more than 300 km. As a result, it is possible that the new missile program will result in limitations on the sale of certain technologies to Turkey.
Nevertheless, knowledge about missile construction is available throughout the world to anyone willing to pay a price for it. North Korea, China, and missile scientists from the former Soviet Union are among information sellers.
Turkey’s long-range missile project is part of its larger effort to develop capabilities in fields of advanced military systems as part of their ambition to become a leading regional power.
