Turkey to Work on Domestic Air Defence System to Replace S-400, Patriot, Reports Say

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkey will continue developing new air defence systems as part of domestic missile defence projects in 2022, which could substitute Russian S-400 and the US Patriot air defence complexes, national media reported on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper Sabah, in 2022 Turkey will continue working on the domestic surface-to-air missile (SAM) projects HISAR and SIPER. HISAR A+ and HISAR O+ have been successfully tested, destroying high-speed targets. Thus, Turkey will be one step closer to the SIPER air defence system, which will emerge as an alternative to the S-400 and Patriot.

The system, which is planned to become operational in 2023, is reported to eliminate all threats that appear in the air in the most reliable way.

Army Spc. Timothy Jones operates a Patriot missile battery in Southwest Asia, Feb. 8, 2010. The Defense Department announced Oct. 11, 2019, that it will deploy two Patriot missile batteries to Saudi Arabia.

© Tech. Sgt. Michelle Larche

Turkey is developing two types of SAM HISAR systems, including HISAR-A, a short-range air defence system capable of intercepting targets at up to 15 kilometres (9.3 miles), and HISAR-O, a medium-range system with an outreach of 25 kilometres (15.5 miles). HISAR systems are effective against fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and air-to-land missiles.

The HISAR systems are being developed with the support of the Turkish defence industry and the participation of ASELSAN, ROKETSAN, and other companies. The HISAR-O complex is intended to be used for the protection of military and other strategically important facilities.