ANKARA (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey aimed to have its own “Steel Dome” multi-layered air defence system soon, adding that Ankara would also increase its long-range missile capabilities.
NATO member Turkey has in recent years significantly reduced its dependence on external suppliers of defence equipment. It has become a leading manufacturer of armed drones for the global market and produces much of its own defence needs at home.
Speaking at a ceremony in Ankara to inaugurate the home-made Gokbey helicopter for use by the gendarmerie at the headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS), which was targeted by a deadly Kurdish militant attack last week, Erdogan likened the “Steel Dome” to Israel’s famed “Iron Dome”.
“It is understood much better now how vitally important our multi-layered air defence systems are for our security. If they (Israel) have an ‘Iron Dome’, we will have a ‘Steel Dome’. We won’t look at them and say ‘why don’t we have this’,” Erdogan said, without giving a specific timeline.
“We will increase our long-range missile capabilities during this period too,” he added, saying Turkey would “not rest” until it achieved full independence in the defence industry.
Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system was built to intercept rockets fired into its territory. It became operational in 2011, and uses truck-towed units of radar-guided missiles to blow up short-range threats like rockets, mortars and drones in mid-air.
It also deployed a naval version of the Iron Dome in 2017 to protect ships and sea-based assets.
The system determines whether a rocket is on course to hit a populated area; if not, the rocket is ignored and allowed to land harmlessly.
The United States imposed sanctions on Turkey’s defence industry in December 2020 over its NATO ally’s acquisition of Russia’s S-400 missile defence system. It also expelled Ankara from the F-35 stealth fighter jet programme, where it was a manufacturer and buyer.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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