Is our Mach 5 A2A missile ready?
There is no Mach-5 a2a development information that has been released by our SSB.
As far as a2a missiles go, one of the fastest ones in development is the AIM-260 JATM which will most probably use a dual pulse rocket engine to propel the missile to the expected speed of 5 Mach. It needs this high speed to achieve the very long range it is designed to do.
Meteor comes close to 4.5 Mach.. Our Gökhan missile will probably be the same. Also please note that ramjets aren’t very efficient on fuel at Mach 5.
a2a missiles are very agile and high manoeuvring missiles. Every time a missile manoeuvres, it loses momentum and speed. To maintain high Mach speeds that are faster than the target is the main aim of these missiles. Being throttleable allows Meteor to achieve the long distances and the high no escape zone value it is well known for.
As Gokhan will be of the same ilk, the high speeds at the mid term flight is not such a prerequisite. Important point is to preserve high potential momentum and speed for the terminal phase.