MAM-L or MAM-T with a TV seeker allowing MITL guidance and longer range might have made its combat debut in Sudan against RSF’s FK-2000 air defence system.
Photos from a Sudanese UCAV’s (Bayraktar TB2 or AKINCI) EO/IR system point to an engagement on RSF’s Chinese-made FK-2000 short/medium-range air defence system with a MAM variant with a TV seeker.
One of the photos shows FK-2000 on a crosshair that is the same as the one from the interface of the TV seeker developed for MAM-L and MAM-T glide munitions. The video feed colouring shows that it is not an imaging infrared seeker (IIR), leaving out the TV seeker available to MAM-L and MAM-T.
Engagement on FK-2000 (Left) and MAM-L TV Seeker Feed (Right)
If true, this is not only a combat debut abroad for MITL-capable MAM variant(s) but also a demonstration of the potential for DEAD missions against better-equipped air defence systems like FK-2000, which has a maximum range of 25 km against aircraft and a radar of
One of the factors making the engagement possible is the extended range for MAM variants with imaging seekers. The range is 40 km for the new MAM-L variants, while this goes up to 65 km for the new MAM-T variants with better gliding performance. For a comparison, baseline MAM-L with a laser seeker reaches a range of 15 km at most.
Thanks to its small size, MAM-L TV can be carried in large numbers by AKINCI or other UCAVs of similar size.
Another thing to note is that, due to the small size and very small IR signature due to having no propulsion, MAM-L and MAM-T are less likely to be detected on time or engaged effectively if detected.
Other DEAD/Stand-Off Options for UCAVs from Turkiye
There is a vast array of munitions in use or development for the Turkish UCAV platforms for better survivability against air defence systems and quicker engagements on targets of opportunity.
Turbojet-powered munitions, among these stand-off options, can be counted as ÇAKIR compact cruise missile (200+ km), Baykar’s KEMANKEŞ 1 loitering munition (100 km), and the recently tested EREN high-speed loitering munition (100 km).
Alongside the turbojet munitions, ROKETSAN has developed and introduced the aeroballistic missiles UAV-230 (155 km) and UAV-122 (55 km) with supersonic terminal speed and less time to target as a result.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor:Özgür Ekşi
