Latest news with #ROKETSAN
India.com
7 days ago
- India.com
What is ALKA-KAPLAN, world's first laser-armed tank unveiled by Turkey? Its capable of..., concern for India because...
ALKA-KAPLAN laser tank (File) Turkey, which has rapidly established itself as a prolific manufacturer of military drones in recent years, has ironically now developed a directed energy weapon that can potentially neutralize drone warfare in the coming future. According to reports, Turkey recently unveiled the ALKA-KAPLAN, a laser-armed tank designed to hunt down and fry enemy drones in the air. What is the ALKA KAPLAN tank? Jointly developed by FNSS and ROKETSAN, the ALKA-KAPLAN is a hybrid tracked vehicle equipped with a directed-energy weapon system to neutralize enemy drones in a real-time battle scenario. The armored tank is the first of its kind in the world, and will be officially showcased at the IDEF 2025, as per media reports. The ALKA-KAPLAN is essentially a combination of KAPLAN HYBRID tracked platform and ALKA Directed Energy Weapon System (DEWS), and is also equipped with artificial intelligence capabilities and electromagnetic jamming. The state-of-the-art tank is designed to seamlessly work with and protect conventional tanks and infantry by neutralizing drone threats in an active battle scenario. How Turkey's laser tank could neutralize drone warfare? As already mentioned, Turkey's ALKA KAPLAN tank uses powerful lasers to fry small aerial threats like military drones and loitering munitions. Its stated capabilities, if true, can drastically change drone warfare as it presents a pocket-friendly method of dealing with unmanned aerial combat vehicles (UCAVs) and UAVs, which currently require expensive anti-missile missiles to shoot down. Drones have become the staple in major conflicts as was seen in the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as the recent Israel-Iran war and the India-Pakistan conflict. Thus, if a weapon capable of taking out a large swarm of drones is deployed on the battlefield, it could rapidly turn the tide in a real-time battle scenario. According to reports, the tank can identify and destroy drones, military helicopters, as well as explosives planted in the ground, such as land mines, proximity mines, etc. A video released on social media platforms shows the high-tech tank targeting and quickly destroying a drone in the air. Defense experts believe that ALKA KAPLAN can completely change urban warfare by essentially nullifying the threat of UCAVs and loitering munitions, and can be also be deployed to protect the infantry on the ground. Why this is a concern for India? Turkey, along with China and Azerbaijan, was among the few countries that openly supported Pakistan during the recent India-Pakistan conflict, and also armed the Pakistani forces with advanced military drones like the Bayraktar TB2, which were actively used against Indian installations during Operation Sindoor. Many experts fear that given the recent closeness in strategic ties between Ankara and Islamabad, Turkey may offer the ALKA-KAPLAN system to Pakistan, which could pose a major threat to India as it would significantly boost the enemy's capability to counter Indian UCAVs, such as those used to target terrorist and military infrastructure in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.
NDTV
7 days ago
- Business
- NDTV
All About Tayfun Block-4, Turkey's 1st Hypersonic Ballistic Missile
Ankara: Amid Turkey's growing political, ideological and defence ties with Pakistan, Ankara has unveiled its first hypersonic ballistic missile. The Tayfun Block-4 missile was launched on Tuesday at the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul. The new missile is developed by Turkish defence giant Roketsan and is the hypersonic version of the Tayfun missile, Turkey's indigenously produced longest-range ballistic missile. The Tayfun Block 4 measures 6.5 meters in length, weighs 2,300 kilograms, and boasts a range of 800 kilometres, according to a report by Turkey Today. "The Tayfun Block-4 achieves long ranges, setting another record for the Turkish defence industry. Weighing over 7 tons, this new version of the Tayfun, with its multi-purpose warhead, will be capable of destroying numerous strategic targets, such as air defence systems, command and control centres, military hangars, and critical military facilities, from kilometres away," Roketsan said in a statement. On the first day of #IDEF2025, we unveiled six new systems that will further strengthen the power of our defense industry. Each system, developed through national engineering and indigenous capabilities, reflects the level we have reached in generating advanced technologies and… — ROKETSAN (@roketsan) July 22, 2025 What's A Hypersonic Missile? The term "hypersonic" is often used to refer to hypersonic glide vehicles and hypersonic cruise missiles. They are highly advanced weapons and can manoeuvre mid-flight at hypersonic speed inside Earth's atmosphere, which makes it very hard to track and intercept. Hypersonic missiles travel at Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound (about 3,800 miles per hour, 6,100 kilometres per hour). But experts believe that almost all ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speed during their flights, especially as they dive towards their targets. Turkey-Pakistan Ties As military tensions rose between India and Pakistan following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, Islamabad's growing defence ties with Turkey came under the spotlight. Though both Ankara and Islamabad denied any arms transfer, the Indian Army later said Pakistan used Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones to attack India. "Turkey... played an important role in providing the type of support it did; they gave Bayraktar. We saw numerous other drones also coming in during the war," Deputy Chief of Army Staff (capability development and sustenance), Lieutenant General Rahul R Singh said earlier this month. Ankara has also expressed solidarity with Islamabad during the military conflict with India in May. With its growing defence industry, Turkey has become Pakistan's reliable defence partner, already supplying drones and naval assets to Islamabad. The shifting regional dynamics were also visible when Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Islamabad earlier this month to intensify cooperation in sectors including defence, economy, culture, and education.
India.com
02-07-2025
- Business
- India.com
Will Pakistan get S-400 air defense system? Turkey made a plan for F-35... what is the Russian connection?
Will Pakistan get S-400 air defense system? Turkey made a plan for F-35... what is the Russian connection? Turkey To Sell S-400 to Pakistan: Geopolitical equations are changing rapidly around the world and another big headache may emerge for India's security policy. The air defense system that protected India from air threats from Pakistan. Now the same S-400 system can go into the hands of India's enemy Pakistan. This claim has been made by a former minister of Turkey. Turkey, which bought this system from Russia for $ 2.5 billion, is now preparing to get rid of this system to build better relations with America. This matter is not just about military technology, but also indicates a new 'cold war' between India and Turkey. The bitterness in India-Turkey relations in the last decade is now openly moving towards confrontation at the level of military strategy. India and Turkey are now seen at two opposite poles of global diplomacy. Recently, when India increased diplomatic and military partnership with Turkey's rivals Cyprus and Greece, it was a clear message that India is not taking Turkey's growing closeness with Pakistan lightly. The visit of the Indian Air Force Chief to Greece and Prime Minister Modi's visit to Cyprus are part of this. At the same time, Turkey has started many military projects in collaboration with Pakistan and has also supported Pakistan on various global forums. Now selling state-of-the-art systems like S-400 to Pakistan can become a new challenge for India. Turkey wants to give up S-400, wants to get F-35 from America Turkey had made a deal for S-400 defense system from Russia in 2017, but due to this it was excluded from America's F-35 fighter jet program and also had to face CAA TSA sanctions. Now Turkey wants to improve relations with America and is developing a new multi-layer air defense system called 'Steel Dome'. 'Steel Dome' will be completely domestic, in which Turkish defense companies ASELSAN, ROKETSAN and MKE are working. Turkey has made it clear that the Russian S-400 will not be included in this system. This is an indication that Turkey is preparing to get rid of the S-400 and is trying to rejoin the F-35 program. Will S-400 be sold to Pakistan? Former Turkish Minister Cavit Caglar created a sensation by saying that Turkey should consider selling S-400 and its potential buyers could be India or Pakistan. Although he gave preference to Pakistan, but this is just speculation, not any official confirmation. The reality is that Turkey has neither been able to fully integrate S-400 into its network, nor has it activated it. In such a situation, it may think of satisfying America by selling this system. How possible is the sale of S-400 to Pakistan? However, technically and diplomatically it is not that easy. Turkey's agreement with Russia makes it clear that it cannot transfer or sell S-400 to any other country without prior permission from Russia. And getting this permission is almost impossible. Russia is not only a strategic partner of India, but it has already given India five squadrons of S-400. Russia would not want India's rival Pakistan to have the same system. Also, Pakistan is not in a financial position to buy an expensive system like the S-400. The cost of one squadron is around $500 million. On the other hand, talks are going on between India and Russia regarding additional batch of S-400 and S-500 systems. India is already the operator of these systems and Russia also trusts India. In such a situation, if Turkey wants to get rid of S-400, then India can become a viable buyer for it. Provided Russia allows it. Currently, both the S-400 units Turkey has are lying dormant and kept at an undisclosed location. Turkey does not want to activate it so that it can maintain better relations with NATO and the US.
