SOM-J cruise missile was tested with its penetrating HE-FRAG warhead optimised against ships and land targets in line with SOM-J’s dual-use principle.
Turkish Minister of Industry and Technology, Mehmet Fatih Kacır, announced that SOM-J was tested with the live warhead against a representative ship target from an F-16 fighter.
In addition to the tests up to this point, alongside the live warhead test, radar cross-section measurement was also shown to verify the low observability in the RF band.
SOM-J is a dual-role and internal carriage-friendly member in the SOM line of cruise missiles jointly developed by TÜBİTAK SAGE and ROKETSAN.
The development was launched in coordination with Lockheed Martin, with the goal of developing a conformal cruise missile for internal weapon bays of the F-35 fighters.
The one-sided exclusion of Turkiye from the F-35 programme has shifted the attention from the F-35 towards the KAAN fighter, ANKA-III UCAV, and KIZILELMA unmanned fighter as platforms for SOM-J. In addition to low-observable platforms, F-16s seem to be on the table as well due to SOM-J’s advanced ASuW capabilities that in-use SOM-A and SOM-B do not possess.
Being lighter than baseline SOM with folding wings and fins, SOM-J weighs 540 kg with a 140 kg Penetrating HE-FRAG warhead that has optimised effects against both ships and land targets.
The missile, using an IIR seeker with GNSS/INS navigation and two-way datalink, can be employed against both land targets and enemy ships.
However, lighter frame, internal carriage compliance, and new guidance features are not the only important differences of SOM-J from other variants. The missile also incorporates countermeasures against enemy defences such as low RCS, sea skimming, evasive manoeuvres, and communication suppression (Against passive RF detection equipment like ESM or passive radar installations).
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor:Özgür Ekşi
