ROKETSAN has achieved a major milestone in Türkiye’s naval air-defence modernisation with the first successful live, seeker-guided firing of the LEVENT close-in air-defence system. The test, conducted against a real airborne target, demonstrated the system’s precision, validating its role as a new layer in the Turkish Navy’s defensive architecture.
ROKETSAN announced that the LEVENT missile completed its first guided engagement by striking the target with full accuracy. This was the system’s first live firing against an actual air threat, marking an important threshold in the programme’s path toward operational qualification. The test confirms both missile performance and the responsiveness of the integrated launcher, sensors and fire-control elements that form the complete LEVENT weapon system.
LEVENT was intended to help surface fighters defend themselves better against a wide range of current air threats. These include sea-skimming anti-ship missiles that travel at both subsonic and supersonic speeds, as well as aeroplanes, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, and loitering weapons. LEVENT is in the centre of shipborne close-in protection because of its mission profile. This is especially true in regions where reaction time is short and saturation strikes are becoming more regular. According to ROKETSAN, the programme has now surpassed a critical developmental phase with the success of the first guided test.
The system’s missile integrates a hybrid seeker, combining guidance technologies to ensure robust target acquisition in contested electromagnetic conditions. The missile also features a fragmentation warhead, proximity fuze and high manoeuvrability—attributes essential for defeating agile and low-observable threats.
