SİPER Block-1, Turkey’s longest-range air and missile defense system developed with local technology, officially entered service on 28 October. Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, President of the Defence Industry, announced this delivery, which is an essential milestone in the ‘Steel Dome’ project initiated to eliminate air threats against Turkey in a period of escalating conflicts in the Middle East and increasing asymmetric threats from state and non-state actors, with a post on his official x account. In his post, Görgün stated, “SİPER Product-1 System, the deterrent power of the Steel Dome, entered the inventory. SİPER Product-1 system, our deterrent air defense power at long range and high altitude… May it be a gift to our nation on the 101st anniversary of our Republic.”
‘Steel Dome’ is an integrated architecture in which Turkey’s existing and developing air defense systems at different altitudes work together. This air defense umbrella based on national capabilities can be divided into four layers: very short range, short range, medium range, and long range. The Steel Dome includes systems such as IHTAR, ŞAHİN, GÜRZ, GÖKER, GÖKBERK, ALKA, BURÇ, KORKUT, and SUNGUR for very short-range air defense missions. HİSAR-A at low altitude, HİSAR-O and GÖKDEMİR at medium altitude, and SİPER, the latest acquisition of the Turkish armed forces, at high altitude.
SİPER is a long-range air and missile defense system developed by the ASELSAN-ROKETSAN-TÜBİTAK SAGE partnership to protect strategic assets against air-breathing targets such as fighter jets and cruise missiles and air-to-surface munitions. Each SIPER Air Defense System Battery includes four vertical Missile Launching Systems, two Missile Transport Loading Systems, a Search Radar, a Fire Control Center, a Fire Control Radar, a Fleet Control Center, and three Communication Station Vehicles. ASELSAN is responsible for producing equipment such as radars, communication modules, and command and control stations, while TÜBİTAK-SAGE develops the warheads of the SİPER System missiles, and Roketsan develops the rocket engines.
The SİPER system’s search radar provides 360-degree coverage and it is claimed to be able to track up to 100 enemy targets at ranges of up to 200 kilometers and altitudes ranging from 0.1 to 30 kilometers. The Fire Control Radar can engage up to ten targets simultaneously. The missile used in the system is the SİPER Block I, which has an effective range of up to 100 kilometers and an altitude of over 20 kilometers. This missile is based on HİSAR-RF technology and features a double-pulse solid-fuel rocket engine and an RF warhead, similar to other HİSAR missiles. Later stages of the system will use the SİPER Block II missile (with a range of 150 kilometers) and the SİPER Block III missile (estimated to have a range of over 200 kilometers).
