The National Vertical Launch Launcher System (MİDLAS) Project has come to an end
The "Vertical Launch Launcher System Project" initiated by ROKETSAN as of May 2020, under the leadership of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), in line with the needs of the Turkish Naval Forces, has come to an end.
The first firing test of MIDLAS, which will put an end to foreign dependency in Turkey's need for vertical launch launcher systems for naval platforms, was successfully carried out at the Aksaray Firing Test Area. With the completion of the ground-fired tests of MIDLAS, an important stage has been left behind for the integration of the system into TCG Istanbul, the first of the MİLGEM İ Class frigates under construction.
In the first place, the Hisar-D RF and Turkish Naval Forces platforms will be equipped with air defense capability with this launcher.
Later on, Siper Blok-1, Atmaca and other national missiles will be integrated into MIDLAS. Thus, the Turkish navy will be able to use many defensive and offensive ammunition on its platforms.
All over the world, these systems can be used mainly on ships. However, in the future, studies are also continuing on land-based versions for the protection of bases and ports.
The below-deck vertical launcher system, which only few countries in the world can produce and which Turkey is dependent on abroad, will enter the inventory of the Naval Forces Command nationally in September 2023, with the integration of MIDLAS into TCG Istanbul. With the integration of the HİSAR-D RF missile into the system, Turkey will write its name in history as one of the few countries in the world that can use its own launcher and its own air defense missile from its own designed and manufactured ship.
In his statement to the AA correspondent, ROKETSAN General Manager Murat İkinci said that the MIDLAS Project was carried out under the leadership of the SSB, together with the Naval Forces.
Emphasizing that within the scope of the project, a project concept aimed at launching domestic-national missiles from the national launcher system was put forward, İkinci said:
"We set out to produce nationally the vertical launch launcher systems that we had purchased from abroad before. We made our first launch this week. This was a very important success in terms of demonstrating the capabilities of the Turkish defense industry. After this success, we were sent to TCG Istanbul, the first of the İSTİF class frigates. The National Vertical Launch System will be placed and used successfully there."
Pointing out that this project will technically have a launcher system capable of vertical launching from a ship, İkinci made the following assessments:
"What will be the advantage of this for us? We will be able to integrate our own national missiles much more easily and quickly. First of all, we successfully managed to fire the Hisar-D RF, the naval version of our Hisar-O RF air defense missile, from MİLDAS. Blok-1, Atmaca will be launched through MİLDAS. In the next stages, we aim to meet the need for vertical shooting on all warships we have developed and built for the Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish Naval Forces, within the scope of the MİLDAS Project. Quickly, with the power of Turkish engineering, we have reached a stage beyond the result of Turkish engineering studies. This is actually one of the happiest points for us."
TCG will catch up with Istanbul
Expressing that MİLDAS will catch up with TCG Istanbul, Murat Second said, "With the Istanbul frigate entering the service of the Naval Forces, we aim to bring MİLDAS to life and be used there. We do not have any problems with it at the moment." he said.
İkinci, who also gave information about the missiles to be used in MİLDAS, used the following statements:
"We are planning to launch air defense missiles, in particular, over MİLDAS in the first place. Later, we will continue to work on integration for the successful launch of our Atmaca anti-ship missile over MİLDAS. This gives us the possibility of vertically launching any missile that we can use from naval platforms, missiles developed nationally by ROKETSAN. will provide.
The Combat Management System of our war platforms is also being developed nationally by our sister companies. The fact that such launcher systems, integrated with it, have reached the stage of using national ammunition, paves the way for Turkey to act completely independently in this regard.
Our aim is to launch Hisar-O's Hisar-D RF, which is adapted to the sea, in the first stage, which was successfully completed. From now on, we aim to throw Siper Blok-1 over MİLDAS. Atmaca and equivalent missiles are on our agenda.
We determine this according to the priority of our Navy. At the moment, we are still negotiating with our Navy and SSB on this issue. According to their priority, all activities and integrations that can be done in the next stages will be carried out by ROKETSAN."
Türk savunma sanayisi bünyesinde geliştirilen ve ilk atışlı testini başarıyla gerçekleştiren Milli Dikey Atım Lançer Sistemi (MİDLAS), Deniz Kuvvetleri platformlarına hava savunma yeteneği kazandıracak.
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