ANKARA — The Roketsan UAV-230 missile has entered service with the Turkish Land Forces Command. Rear Admiral Zeki Akturk, spokesperson for Turkey's National Defense Ministry, announced the missile's entry into service at a briefing.
The UAV-230 is an air-to-surface ballistic supersonic missile with a range exceeding 150 kilometers. It is designed to target mobile and stationary air defense systems, radar and communication sites, command centers, and light armored ground vehicles. The missile carries a 42-kilogram warhead, available in fragment, armor-piercing, or thermobaric variants. It weighs 225 kilograms and measures 3.4 meters in length. The UAV-230 uses fire-and-forget capability and GNSS-supported inertial guidance.
The missile is derived from the TRG-230 surface-to-surface system and is primarily launched from Bayraktar AKINCI and AKSUNGUR drones. The first successful test firing occurred in December 2022 from a Bayraktar AKINCI drone, striking a target 100 kilometers away. A March 2023 test engaged a target 140 kilometers away. A November 2024 test engaged a target 155 kilometers away. Future integration of the missile with next-generation unmanned aerial vehicles is planned. The Bayraktar AKINCI drone was introduced in 2021 and can carry a payload exceeding one metric ton.
Murat Ikinci, general manager of Roketsan, stated: "The IHA-230, with its 150-kilometer range, is actually the steel claws of our UAVs. Together with our CAKIR missile, it is a system that brings the effective range of our UAVs to the highest level." Turkey aims to meet all of its military manufacturing needs domestically by 2030.
Baykar unmanned aerial vehicles have been deployed in conflicts in Syria, Libya, Ethiopia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine. Turkish officials claim to control 65 percent of the global market for medium-altitude combat drones. Baykar has exported drones to 30 countries across Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East, and is seeking to enter European and NATO defense markets. Baykar's drone export revenue reached $1.8 billion in 2024, up from $1.2 billion in 2023. Foreign sales accounted for 90 percent of Baykar's revenue in 2024. Turkey's defense export industry generated $7.1 billion in revenue in 2024.
No independent assessment was available for this report.