SAHA Bulletin
ÇAKIR Cruise Missile Fired from Land for First Time, New Fuel System Confirms Extended Range
The ÇAKIR cruise missile has been fired from a land platform for the first time, striking both a land and a sea target in two separate scenarios. According to ROKETSAN's 28 August announcement, the missile, with a body weight of around 275 kg, hit both targets with full accuracy using its new-generation imaging infrared (IIR) seeker head and the domestically developed KTJ-1750 turbojet engine.
The test marked a critical milestone in the multi-platform programme, which is being run on the same airframe as the air-launched version of ÇAKIR. The key variable validated in this firing was the increase in range; the new fuel system has expanded ÇAKIR's engagement envelope.
Ministry of National Defence Signs 12-Month, $2.4M Lobbying Contract with Ballard Partners in the US
The Ministry of National Defence (MSB) has signed a one-year federal representation contract with Ballard Partners worth a total of $2.4 million ($200,000 a month), according to a FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) filing made public in the US. The contract was signed on 8 August and recorded in the FARA register on 26 August.
Ballard Partners is a lobbying network known for its closeness to the Trump administration that has in recent years worked with government clients in Latin America, the Gulf and Eastern Europe; MSB's files focus on fighter aircraft and sanctions waivers.
ASELSAN VLF Communication Systems Enter Service on NATO OTAM Equipment
ASELSAN has integrated the VLF communication systems it developed under the "Upgrade and Refresh of Very Low Frequency (VLF) Over the Air Monitoring (OTAM) Equipment" contract, signed with the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), into NATO's OTAM equipment ahead of the planned schedule. According to the company's 28 August announcement, installation, verification, acceptance tests and user training have been completed successfully.
The contract with NCIA is the first under which ASELSAN will deliver products to the agency. The system covers the modernisation of the infrastructure that monitors and verifies NATO's VLF broadcasts over the air, and is regarded as critical for the Alliance's submarine command-and-control layer.
Bayraktar KALKAN VTOL UAV Completes Successful Flights on TCG Anadolu and TCG Burgazada
The KALKAN Vertical Take-Off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTOL UAV) developed by Baykar Makine has carried out successful test flights on TCG Anadolu (L-400) and the MİLGEM Ada-class corvette TCG Burgazada (F-513). The test activities aim to bring intelligence, reconnaissance and targeting capabilities to ship decks in maritime conditions.
The KALKAN VTOL UAV can take off and land vertically and fully autonomously without a runway; it uses an electric motor for take-off and an internal combustion engine in cruise. Baykar's BG160 EO/IR payload with an integrated laser rangefinder opens up the doctrine of the UAV class operating from ship platforms.
MUGEM to Be Launched on 27 September 2027 with 52-KIZILELMA Air Wing, Delivery in 2032
Naval Forces Commander Admiral Dr Ercüment Tatlıoğlu announced at TEKNOFEST Mavi Vatan in Gölcük that the national aircraft carrier MUGEM will be launched on 27 September 2027 and delivered to the fleet in 2032. The ship is being designed to carry 52 KIZILELMA unmanned combat aircraft as well as unmanned surface and underwater vehicles.
MUGEM will be 285 metres long, with a maximum beam of 72 metres, a draught of 10.1 metres and a displacement of 60,000 tonnes; its first steel was cut on 2 January 2025 at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard Command. The window of roughly five years between launch and delivery will be devoted to outfitting, air wing integration and sea trials.
MİLDEN Vertical Launch System Revealed: 80m+ Length, 40 Crew, Land-Attack Capability
According to a 28 August post by ASFAT, MİLDEN will be longer than 80 metres, wider than seven metres and heavier than 2,700 tonnes; its draught will be 6.8 metres, its crew 40, and the platform will carry a vertical launch system for attacking land targets. The ability to engage land and air targets and support for special forces operations are also among the officially disclosed capabilities.
Alongside diesel-electric propulsion, the submarine will use an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system; HAVELSAN's AI-supported ADVENT MÜREN Combat Management System is planned for use on MİLDEN. Work is under way on the integration of the AKYA heavyweight torpedo and the submarine-launched ATMACA; ASFAT has not shared the delivery and serial production schedule.
3 KAAN, 6 HÜRJET: TUSAŞ Enters Intensive Test Period Through End of 2026
Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ) General Manager Mehmet Demiroğlu announced on 24 August that three KAAN and six HÜRJET prototypes will be flying by the end of 2026. The second KAAN prototype has begun full-capacity testing; the third prototype is on the final assembly line.
Demiroğlu also said that the aim is to raise AKSUNGUR's payload capacity from the current 750 kg to 1,250 kg next year, and that the separate 10-tonne-class helicopter platform developed by TUSAŞ is positioned to carry up to four tonnes of water for firefighting. GÖKBEY and the 10-tonne helicopter are being run as two distinct platforms; sonar integration has been started on both.
ASFAT Exports $550M in Eight Months: Pakistan Corvettes, A400M MoU and Kayseri Line
Deputy Minister of National Defence and ASFAT Chairman Musa Heybet said in an exclusive interview with Habertürk on 26 August that the company had achieved more than $550 million in exports in the first eight months of the year and had sold services to more than 20 countries. The main items were the delivery of MİLGEM corvettes to Pakistan, a memorandum of understanding with Airbus on A400M maintenance, repair and modernisation, and A400M maintenance carried out at the Kayseri 2nd Air Maintenance Factory Directorate.
Heybet said that with its existing contracts the company's workload is fully booked until 2030. The Airbus memorandum envisages developing major maintenance capacity in Türkiye for the A400M platform; details of the agreement will be announced at a later date.
MSB Weekly Report: MPT-76 MH Acceptance, MOD 135 Fuze and MMT-76 Airborne Qualification
Three main defence items for the week were announced in a statement in Afyonkarahisar on 27 August by Rear Admiral Zeki Aktürk, Press and Public Relations Adviser at the Ministry of National Defence (MSB). Inspection and acceptance activities were completed for various quantities of the National Infantry Rifle (MPT-76 MH) for the Land Forces, and Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE) delivered the MOD 135 Electronic Proximity Fuze.
The briefing also formally addressed the dissolution process of the SDF in Syria, the UAV deployment on Rhodes and the decision to move the Patriot batteries on Karpathos to Crete during the week of 24–30 August. MSB described the Patriot relocation decision as "a positive step towards reversing the current wrong practice" and stressed that islands with demilitarised status must remain unarmed under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties. MSB announced the weekly inventory acceptances at the Afyonkarahisar Officers' Club as part of the events marking the 104th anniversary of the Great Offensive.
In the same week, statements from MKE and Türkiye's Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) announced that the domestic helicopter machine gun MMT-76 had passed all airborne qualification tests on the AS-532 Cougar; the system uses 7.62×51 mm NATO ammunition and fires at a rate of 750 rounds per minute. Positioned as a domestic equivalent to the M60 and MG-3 class, the MMT-76 aims to break the dependence on foreign machine guns in the MSB helicopter fleet.
HAVELSAN FLEETSTAR GVDS Passes Factory Acceptance Tests for MİLGEM 10 and 11
HAVELSAN has completed the Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) of the Ship Data Distribution System (FLEETSTAR GVDS) for the 10th and 11th ships of the MİLGEM project. The system unites all of a ship's sensor, weapon and command networks over a single high-availability data backbone.
The submarine version of the FLEETSTAR product family operates under the name Submarine Information Distribution System (DBDS); HAVELSAN delivered its first GVDS system to TCG HEYBELİADA, the first ship of the MİLGEM project, 16 years ago. This historical continuity shows that GVDS has become established in the Turkish Naval Forces as a domestic data backbone that can be carried from platform to platform.
SAHA Horizon: Three Strategic Takeaways from the Week of 24–30 August
This week, MSB's establishment of an institutional lobbying interface with Ballard Partners in Washington, the entry into service of ASELSAN VLF systems on NATO OTAM under the NCIA contract, the official announcement of MUGEM's 2027 launch schedule and the release of MİLDEN's dimensioned design with a vertical launch system all came at the same time. The four stories show Turkish naval and Alliance strategy positioned in three mutually complementary layers within the same week.
1) Technical and political co-representation within the Alliance. MSB's signing of a 12-month institutional lobbying contract with Ballard Partners in Washington, and ASELSAN's bringing VLF systems into service ahead of schedule under its first product-delivery contract with NCIA, show that political and technical representation within the Alliance was renewed in sync in the same week; the two axes are moving not in a single manoeuvre but in two different layers.
2) Doctrinal pairing of aircraft carrier and submarine. It is no coincidence that the official announcement of MUGEM's 27 September 2027 launch date and the release of MİLDEN's dimensioned design with a vertical launch system for attacking land targets fell in the same week; the Turkish Naval Forces are moving from sea control to a doctrine of power projection ashore with a two-pronged (surface + underwater) architecture. The 52-KIZILELMA air wing and MİLDEN's VLS are two different weapon layers of the same doctrine.
3) Multi-platform missile architecture. The multi-platform cruise missile concept, which completed its third platform with ÇAKIR's land version, is expanding into the unmanned air layer with the KALKAN VTOL UAV's flights from a ship deck, and into the underwater layer with AKYA and the submarine-launched ATMACA, whose integration into MİLDEN's VLS is being worked on. The domestic missile architecture is reducing supply chain complexity through a single-airframe/multi-platform principle while increasing doctrinal flexibility.
BAE Systems Unveils Next-Generation Pilot Helmet
BAE Systems has unveiled Project Intuity, a next-generation pilot helmet demonstrator for sixth-generation combat aircraft; using eye tracking, 3D imaging and 4D audio cues, the system aims to reduce the pilot's cognitive workload and to manage drone swarms and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).
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Sweden Provides Gripen Support to Finland
Sweden will actively take part in the surveillance and protection of Finnish territory with its Gripens and corvettes until at least the end of 2026; in addition, Saab has received an order from Finland for RBS 70 NG short-range air defence missiles worth about $126 million (SEK 1.2 billion).
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First Three Contracts Signed in Europe's Access to Space Project
The European Space Agency has signed contracts with the first three service providers under the European Launcher Challenge: Rocket Factory Augsburg (€186.9 million), PLD Space (€158.9 million) and Isar Aerospace (€197.8 million); MaiaSpace is also expected to join soon.
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Greece and Israel to Sign Air Defence Agreement on 31 August
Greece and Israel will sign an agreement worth €3.1 billion in Tel Aviv on 31 August under the "Achilles Shield" project; the package will cover the Spyder, Barak MX and David's Sling systems, with 25% Greek participation and source code transfer guaranteed.
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Greece Scrambles F-16s for Turkish UAV
According to a claim by Greek state broadcaster ERT, the Hellenic Air Force scrambled two F-16s for a Turkish UAV alleged to have flown in the north-eastern Aegean sea area between Samothrace and Lemnos and close to the approach path of Alexandroupolis Airport; the incident is reported solely on the basis of statements from the Greek side.
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Taiwan Seeks $1.13B Budget for Strong Bow, Outer Layer of T-Dome Network
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense has requested an additional budget of about $1.13 billion for the Chiang Kung (Tien Kung IV – Strong Bow) system, which will form the outermost layer of the T-Dome missile defence network; the package, comprising two launcher batteries and 128 interceptor missiles, will provide ballistic missile defence in a layer of about 70 km at medium altitude.
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Pakistan and Kuwait Sign Defence Cooperation Agreement
Pakistan and Kuwait signed the "2026 Protocol Agreement" in Rawalpindi on 27 August; the agreement envisages deepening bilateral defence cooperation, particularly in military training, capacity building, and border security and management.
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Russia Receives Su-35 Fighter Deliveries
Rostec has delivered a new batch of Su-35S aircraft to the Russian Aerospace Forces; the number of aircraft delivered was not disclosed, and this was the second batch of the year after the first 2026 delivery at the end of May.
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South Korea Moves Towards Nuclear Submarines
A special bill for three 8,000-tonne nuclear submarines has been submitted to South Korea's National Assembly, led by Yu Yong-weon, a lawmaker from the opposition People Power Party; the bill guarantees commitment to the NPT and has the backing of 30 right-leaning lawmakers.
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Poland and Spain Jointly Procure A330 MRTT
Poland and Spain will procure a total of seven A330 MRTTs (three for Spain + four for Poland) through a bilateral programme outside the NATO MMF fleet; deliveries under the package, financed by the EU's SAFE loan, will be completed by the end of 2030.
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