The new ammunition is kept confidential until its first test release from Baykar Akıncı UCAV. Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) and Baykar Makina and released videos from the test. The ammunition belongs to Roketsan. SSB President Professor İsmail Demir, Roketsan Chairman of the Board of Directors Professor Faruk Yiğit and General Manager Murat İkinci, Baykar Makina General Manager Haluk Bayraktar and Technical Manager Selçuk Bayraktar attended to the test campaign.
Baykar Makina issued a press bulletin and said that Akıncı PT-3 UCAV took off for its first use of weapon campaign. The UCAV carried Roketsan’s MAM-L, MAM-C and MAM-T ammunitions. It is known that the first two ammunition are converted from Roketsan’s Umtas Long-Range Anti-Tank Missile and Cirit Missile. The third missile, however, is new to the public. The press released stated that Akıncı used all three ammunition and hit the target successfully.
Smart Micro Munition MAM-T has been developed for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and light attack aircraft. The ammunition can engage both stationary and moving targets like armoured vehicles or buildings and naval targets with high precision, thanks to its semi-active laser seeker. The MAM-T Block-1 has a 30+ km range capability in UAVs. It weighs 94kg. Thanks to its semi-active laser homing and wings, the MAM-T has a 30 km range when released from UAV, 60 km range when released from light aircraft and 80 km range when released from a jet fighter.
The MAM-T seems to be converted from a TRG-230 rocket to a smart munition. Roketsan has previously followed the same path for Cirit (MAM-C), and UMTAS-L (MAM-L)TRG-230’s name seems to appear at MAM-T. The MAM-T has a 230 mm diameter like the TRG-230 warhead.
The MAM-T resembles Raytheon’s GBU-53/B StormBreaker and MBDA SPEAR as well. When technical specs are considered, it resembles GBU-53/B more. The US missile is integrated at aircraft like McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle, F/A-18 Hornet and F-35 Lightning fighters. Thanks to aircraft speed and flying altitude, the 93kg class bomb can identify and strike mobile targets from standoff distances in all weather conditions. The GBU-53B has three modes of target acquisition: millimetre-wave radar, infrared homing using an uncooled imaging seeker, and semi-active laser homing.
Roketsan’s MAM-T block-1 is one kg heavier than GBU-53/B. TRG-230 has 50 kg, and the GBU 53/B has 49 kg warhead. The MAM-T’s warhead capacity is not declared. Raytheon’s GBU is longer in length but smaller in diameter.
