The Turkish Navy has carried out another live firing of the ATMACA (translated HAWK) anti-ship missile on 18 June in a test conducted at the training range off the coast of the Black Sea city of Sinop. The launch was carried out by the ADA class corvette, TCG KINALIADA, (F-514) and the target vessel was a decommissioned salvage and submarine rescue vessel TCG Işın. The target vessel was 65.07 m long and had a displacement of 1650 tons.
ATMACA weighs about 800 kg with a warhead of 250 kg and can engage enemy ships up to a distance of 220 km with absolute precision, the requirement for future range presented by the SSB is 360 km depending on the mission, which makes it clear that ATMACA will also be used as a coastal protection system in the future. From internal circles it has been made clear that in the future it will also be used by:
- the P-72 Maritime Patrol Aircraft
- S-70B SEAHAWK
- UAVs
- the ADA class corvettes
- the future I-class frigates
There is a possibility that the BARBAROS class frigates (MEKO-200 frigates of the German ThyssenKrupp) will be equipped according to the Mid-Life Upgrade Program. This is possible because the Combat Management System GENESIS ADVENT from HAVELSAN will be used and will serve as an interface between the warship and the missile.
ATMACA Features
The system architecture of the missile ATMACA uses a control system manufactured by ASELSAN, which includes a GPS, an Inertial Navigation System, a barometric altimetre and radar altimetre for navigation. The missile finds its destination using a Ku-Band Active RF radar scanner with active accuracy and an advanced mission planning system (3D routing). The missile’s target coordinates can be changed even after launch and are highly protected against electronic interference.
The peculiarity of ATMACA missile is that the missile can fly very low, which makes it difficult to counter. When launched with a booster from the launcher, the missile reaches a very short altitude of 100-150 m and then immediately goes into the descent, which is below 15 m above the water surface. When approaching its target the missile goes below 5m (the skimming alt. is given between 1-5m) and due to its 12G+ wave popup the combat becomes difficult. The 4.8m long missile with booster 5.2m hits its target with a flight speed of 0.95 Mach. The sophisticated system allows to change its target coordinates several times already in flight.
Korhan Özkilinc
