The self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, shortly SPAAG, which had lost its priority in the
last 30 years in the West, has started to gain importance nowadays. The Korkut, one
of the lastest examples in this area, is among Turkey's leading defence projects. It is an
interesting system with its different features from other modern SPAAGs. As the Weapon Detective,
we are investigating the Korkut and what it offers.
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We need to look carefully at what the Korkut means for Turkey.
20-30 years ago, Turkey did not have an efficient defence industry. It had to acquire the weapons
systems developed by other countries for their own special requirements. However, this situation
was causing multiple handicaps. Foreign suppliers naturally were developing systems according
to the demands of their own countries. These systems often did not answer fully to Turkey's
geographical conditions as well as security needs.
Also, if we talk about the SPAAG, the Western countries and defence industry companies have
lost their interest in this system for a while. However, the Turkish Armed Forces needed it.
The momentum gained by the Turkish defence industry over the past few decades has solved
these problems. Now, Turkey can design and produce many different types of a weapon system
which meets its own special needs. This is very important for a modern army.
In this perspective, the Korkut is one of the most important symbols of the new Turkish
Armed Forces. With the end of the Cold War, while the West
lost interest in SPAAG, Turkey had decided to replace its M42s with a modern system.
In the project, getting technology transfer or licence production rights from a foreign
country was planned. In the meanwhile, the Turkish Armed Forces
integrated the 12.7mm M55 quadmount anti-aircraft guns on some M113 as an interim solution.
Due to economic reasons, this SPAAG programme progressed slowly.
In the 2000s, thanks to the rapid grown of its defence industry's capabilities, Turkey
decided to develop a purely indigenous vehicle. In the same years, the Turkish Armed Forces
were considering to modernize 35 mm GDF towed anti-aircraft guns. This project was also
consisting of developing a fire control system and 35mm modern airburst ammunition with programmable
fuze. In 2010, ASELSAN became the main contractor
of all these programmes. This was a wise decision. The modernized 35mm towed anti-aircraft gun
and the SPAAG had many common subsystems like optical sensors, radar, the fire control system,
servo controller, and electronics etc. Also, both systems were capable of firing
new 35mm airburst ammunition called ATOM. So, the development costs of the Korkut was
considerably low. In 2015, ASELSAN delivered the prototype of
the SPAAG to the Turkish Armed Forces for extensive trails. The serial production of
the Korkut started in 2016. The system became operational three years later.
A typical Korkut air defence battery consists of three SPAAGs and a command and control
vehicle. The hulls of both vehicles are the ACV-30
tracked amphibious armoured vehicle developed by FNSS.
This vehicle looks like an enlarged model of the ACV-15 series, a product of the same
company. However, it is not true. The ACV30 has a different
road wheel configuration. Actually, this configuration is more similar
to that used in the Kaplan series and the MAV.
Although there is various information about the ballistic protection level of the vehicle
in various sources, neither ASELSAN nor FNSS have officially confirmed any of this information.
A turret with 35mm twin-barrel gun and onboard sensors has a high weight.
Therefore, when looking at other examples in the world, we can easily see that this
type of SPAAGs has tank chassis. So they are not amphibious.
But, the ACV30 can also swim, while carrying such a heavy turret. This capability makes
the Korkut unique in its class. Thus, the SPAAG can cross water obstacles
with the armoured vehicles it accompanies without waiting for setting a bridge. Besides,
this feature makes it possible to secure the other side of the river against air attack
before the combat engineers start building a bridge.
The crew sits inside the hull. The most notable handicap of the Korkut is the commander's
lack of weapon control capability. However, this is the choice of the Turkish Army. If
demanded, ASELSAN can easily provide the Korkut with this capability, thanks to its open architecture
electronics. There are an automatic fire warning and suppression
system in the engine and crew compartments. The Korkut, which can operate in a CBRN environment,
also has an advanced air conditioning system. There are electro-optic detection and tracking
system as well as tracking radar on the remotely controlled turret.
The Korkut can engage its target on the move. It is highly effective against targets such
as aircraft, helicopters, air-to-ground missiles, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles,
as well as mortar shells and artillery rockets. There is an automatic feeding system in the
turret that allows two different types of ammunition to be loaded at the same time and
the preferred ammunition to be selected and fired at any time.
The vehicle has a three-person crew consisting of commander, gunner, and driver. Yet, the
many technical specifications of the Korkut have not been officially published. However,
there is some information about the base vehicle of the Korkut, the ACV30 on FNSS's website.
The vehicle is 7 meters long and 3.9 meters wide. The total height is over 4 meters. The
Korkut, with a combat weight of approximately 30,000 kilograms, can reach a speed of 65
kilometres per hour. The range is 500 kilometres. It can negotiate 0.8-metre vertical steps
and 2-metre trenches. The Korkut's 35mm guns can be effective against air targets at a
range of 4,000 meters and an altitude of 4,000 metres. The rate of fire is 550 rounds per
minute for each barrel. Located rear of Korkut's turret, the 3D radar
operates in Ku-band and can track a target the size of a combat aircraft at a range of
15,000 meters. Another Turkish company, MKEK work with ASELSAN
as a subcontractor for production of parts of the 35mm ATOM airburst ammunition, except
fuzes. ASELSAN's electronic/electromechanical programmable
fuze is at the rear part of the round. The ATOM is not affected by the 4200 bar pressure
that occurred during the firing. It is also resistant to the g-force caused by the very
high muzzle velocity. This electromagnetic jamming resistant fuze also transfers data
of the target to the SPAAG during its flight. The ATOM detonates itself at the determined
location by the fire control computer and builds a tungsten pellets wall in a wide area.
This feature provides great advantages not only against air targets but also against
ground targets. The ATOM has a maximum range of 12,500 meters.
Thanks to its programmable fuze, the ammunition is highly effective against units attacking
from crests or foxholes. The Turkish Armed Forces use the Atılgan
pedestal-mounted Stinger system as the self-propelled air defence missile system.
Besides, Turkey is currently developing the Hisar-A low-altitude air defence missile system.
Therefore, the Turkish Armed Forces did not demand the missile launchers on the Korkut.
The command control vehicle of the battery has a 3D radar digital beamforming architecture
radar. It can provide a wide range of ascent coverage and ascent resolution together in
the close area. This X band radar can detect and identify an aircraft-sized target at a
range of 70,000 meters, and track at a distance of 25,000 meters.
Turkey plans to use many of the components of the Korkut for other important projects.
For example, the ACV-30 will also be the carrier vehicle of Hisar-A low-altitude air defence
missile system developed by ASELSAN. This choice brings an important logistics advantage
in the air defence of the mechanized units of the Turkish Land Forces. Of course, due
to the placement of a different weapon system, FNSS almost redesigned the vehicle to meet
the new requirements. Besides, ASELSAN has also developed the ship-based
model of the Korkut. The system called Korkut-D at first is now marketed under the name Gökdeniz.
Today, many Russian anti-ship missiles like P-800 Oniks flying at supersonic speeds pose
a great threat to surface combatants. Even if a close-in weapon system such as the
Phalanx, which has an effective range of 1,500 meters, succeeds in destroying a supersonic
missile, the shrapnels may still reach the ship and cause serious damage due to their
high speed. The Gökdeniz, which has an effective range
of 4,000 meters, eliminates this risk. The system was integrated onto the TCG Sokullu
Mehmet Paşa training ship in 2018 and was subjected to extensive trials.
Various sources claim that Turkey will equip its TCG Anadolu amphibious assault ship and
TF-2000-class frigates with the Gökdeniz. It is also possible to see this close-in weapon
system on many illustrations prepared for the modernization of the Turkish Navy's MEKO
200-class frigates. However, there is no known official order
yet. The 35mm naval guns capable of firing airburst
ammunition has big international market potential, as the commonly used 20mm and 30mm close-in
weapon systems do not have sufficient effectiveness against modern Russian anti-ship missiles.
Today, the only system that can compete with the Gökdeniz on the 35mm naval gun market
is Rheinmetall's Millennium. Besides, the 35mm GDM-A gun on the Turkish
Navy's Doğan, Rüzgar, and Yıldız-class missile boats is the ship-based model of the
towed GDF. However, the company does not offer such a
modernization package on its official website. Using experience gained from the Korkut Project,
ASELSAN also developed the Korhan remote controlled weapon station. This turret is designed for
armoured infantry fighting vehicles and features a gun which is capable of firing 35mm airburst
ammunition. The Korkut is indeed one of the stars of the
Turkish defence industry. For this reason, it is also mediatic. Moreover, some Turkish
newspapers published some weird news about it. For example, they claimed that the Korkut
could stop even an atomic bomb. Naturally, the manufacturer and officials denied this
false news. However, Ankara could not contain itself for
using Korkut's popularity. In 2020, Turkey deployed this SPAAG to Tripoli to protect
some critical facilities. In fact, sending the modernized 35mm anti-aircraft
gun for these missions would be a more cost-effective solution. However, this system is not popular.
There are reports in some sources that Indonesia and Pakistan are interested in the Korkut.
However, these countries do not have an official SPAAG procurement programme.
In today's combat environment, the use of guided air-to-surface missiles and cruise
missiles has become widespread. Besides, many terrorist and militia groups
can significantly damage modern armies using drones, heavy mortars and artillery rockets.
The Korkut is one of the few systems that can answer to this wide range of threats and
also accompany mechanized units in the field. In fact, it is unique in its class as it is
an amphibious vehicle. Although many countries are developing laser weapons for similar tasks,
time is needed for these systems to reach maturity. During this time, the Korkut is
a candidate to fill an important gap. Thanks for watching our video. And please
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