Minister of Industry and Technology, Mehmet Fatih Kacır, gave an important update regarding the integration work of missiles meant for KAAN fighter’s internal bays. Kacır stated that the integration work of GÖKDOĞAN BVRAAM, BOZDOĞAN WVRAAM, ramjet-powered GÖKHAN BVRAAM, and SOM-J cruise missile is ongoing.
GÖKDOĞAN and BOZDOĞAN have been fired from F-16 multiple times while GÖKHAN’s development is ongoing. TÜBİTAK SAGE is developing GÖKHAN as a liquid fuel ramjet-powered BVRAAM for engagements beyond the range of GÖKDOĞAN. During IDEF2025, a contract was signed for an “Extended Range GÖKHAN” as part of capability upgrades on design.
SOM-J cruise missile has also been test-fired from an F-16, with at least two tests with a target. SOM-J, originally developed for F-35A, is set to serve onboard KAAN, ANKA-III UCAV, and KIZILELMA unmanned fighter with internal bay compatibility thanks to its development background. The missile with more advanced datalink capabilities compared to SOM-A/B can effectively engage warships in addition to land targets.
The current stage of integration is highly likely to be simulations or static tests to observe the dynamics of ejection (Kinematics, vibration, aerodynamics…) and structural analysis on the internal bay components.
For airborne testing, KAAN’s P4, P5, and P6 prototypes are likely to be weapons-capable with a loadout comparable to the production version. However, some preliminary tests might be performed with earlier prototypes, even though they are not likely to involve targets. It is known that P1 to P3 will be flight tested rigorously, unlike the P0 prototype.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor: Özgür Ekşi
