When we say Delta V, of course we think of systems that go to space, rockets and so on, but at SAHA 2026 we encountered a RAMJet. Thanks to Mr. Mehmet, the General Manager of Delta V, he will give us information about their RAMJet work. But RAMJet is very popular, and we don’t know much about it. First of all, what is a RAMJet?
> > First of all, welcome. It’s the first day of the fair. It has already started quite busy, and actually we are giving the first interview to you.
> > Thank you very much.
> > Thank you.
RAM is actually part of the air-breathing engine group. We can divide air-breathing engines that operate in the supersonic regime into two groups. One of them is the ramjet, meaning if there is subsonic combustion it is called a ramjet; if there is supersonic combustion it becomes a scramjet.
The ram concept is a motor technology based on taking the airflow of a system moving at supersonic speed, reducing it to subsonic speed, burning it in the combustion chamber, and producing thrust.
Why is it critical? Because especially for systems that cruise at low altitude—not climbing but cruising forward—the need for thrust to achieve long range makes this almost indispensable.
In this sense, Delta V is a public company that develops innovative propulsion systems. Although there are different projects in our country, we wanted to demonstrate something here. Let me show this as well.
We developed a unique system with a bi-conic inlet. Existing systems are mostly air-launched. We wanted to address a different gap by prioritizing a system that is launched from land and goes to land or sea targets. So we wanted to develop such a system, and we realized it in a very short time—within months, so to speak.
We integrated a booster motor so that it can reach those speeds and operate, and we performed its first ignition. Our only objective here was to see an air ignition, even for a very short time—to observe that the motor actually burns in the air.
And through two different telemetry units, we observed that it ignited, produced positive thrust, and continued for a certain duration. In this sense, it was extremely successful.
Where will these be used? When launched from land, traveling at supersonic speed—what does supersonic provide? It essentially means it cannot be intercepted easily. Let’s imagine a system cruising at Mach 2.5 at very low altitude, therefore not easily detectable. So we can already say that it could pose a serious threat to ships.
Besides that, we also have a need for supersonic target aircraft. Because the steel dome and its subcomponents are extremely critical and are being developed rapidly. These systems need targets moving at supersonic speeds. They need to be tracked by radar; there are many detailed aspects. In this sense, we think we can also use this RAMJet as a target drone.
We continue to develop it as internal projects, and we can say that we plan to conduct new test firings in the future. This is actually a family—a technological demonstration platform. In the future, we plan to make larger versions of it, again as a RAMJet with a mid-body air intake.
I should also say that the system is quite advanced. The inlet is a movable inlet. During the boost phase it is completely closed, and when transitioning to the ignition phase, the inlet opens and takes in air—on the order of about 10 kilograms per second—bringing it together with solid fuel in the combustion chamber. Inside, with multiple igniters—perhaps not just redundant but even quadruple redundant—it achieves continuous ignition and produces positive thrust, allowing the system to continue.
> > So what parts—fuel, motor—come from you? Without going into very secret topics, what exactly does Delta V contribute here?
I’ll say something a bit bold: we provide everything. Because the fuel technology and fuel production are also ours. All the aerodynamic and internal ballistics aspects you see here are ours. There is a special internal ballistics design here. The bi-conic geometry allows us to reduce supersonic flow to the conditions we want in the combustion chamber.
The design process, development phase, computational aerodynamics analysis, creation of these geometries—all engineering processes belong to us. At the same time, all manufacturing is also ours. So I can say that we design and produce this end-to-end.
> > It seems like we’ll be hearing a lot about RAMJet from Delta V in the coming period.
Yes. As Delta V, we take on critical problems—especially areas where there are gaps, even if major companies are already working on them. We treat these as missions. We start them as internal projects.
In the future, we want to test larger-scale and longer-range versions in flight. Because ground test infrastructures can be very costly. Instead, if we have a cost-effective platform and can accelerate it to real operating conditions with a booster, we can perform the most realistic tests. We built our concept around this idea and will continue scaling up this way.
> > At fairs, we usually give a small introduction to products and then invite you to the studio later for detailed discussion. Let’s move a bit to space. What are you doing there?
Of course. As the name Delta Space Technologies suggests, our main and largest area of activity is space. But considering national needs, we also try to provide solutions in defense using sustainable, cost-effective, and rapidly deployable technologies.
In this context, let me move to our space projects. This is very important. In June 2025, we conducted its first launch. It is a two-stage rocket with very high total impulse. We launched it to high altitude and, for the first time in Türkiye, performed hot staging—separating the second stage while it was firing—at about 44 kilometers and Mach 2.5.
We ignited the second stage and accelerated it to about Mach 5.7, and in the end we reached an altitude of about 210–215 kilometers. Throughout the entire flight, we collected telemetry data for about 7 minutes. It was a very valuable launch.
Why are we doing this? We call it a hypersonic test platform. Why is this important? Because hypersonic speeds are now critical. If you don’t want to be intercepted, you need to reach hypersonic speeds.
> > What counts as hypersonic?
Speeds above Mach 5.
At these speeds, controlling and operating systems is extremely critical, and we see from various examples that such systems are very difficult to intercept.
Why are we doing this? Similar platforms exist in countries like Germany. This is a test platform. An institution developing a hypersonic weapon system—whether Delta V or others—needs to test materials, control systems, telemetry, and other components in that regime. These must be tested in ionized atmospheric conditions, which is very difficult to replicate on the ground. So this platform enables that.
We have started this and are also developing different versions. It will evolve into a very capable stage, and we plan to build a liquid-propellant second stage with thrust vector control and maneuverability. We aim to test it soon.
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