Speaking at the 2019 Annual Evaluation Meeting held at the Beştepe National Congress and Culture Center on January 16, 2020, President Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN shared information about the AKYA National Heavyweight Torpedo (HWT) Program, one of the important developments of the Turkish Defence & Aerospace Industry last year, and said: "We have successfully completed the launch tests of our National Torpedo AKYA."

Under the AKYA National Heavyweight Torpedo Program, of which the €24 Million valued Phase-1 (Development Phase) contract was signed between the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB), the main contractor Roketsan, and various domestic defence industry companies on May 8, 2009, a new Launch Test was carried out on December 20, 2019. According to our information and the test video shown at the evaluation meeting, the launch was performed from an underwater test platform at a depth of 40m. During this launch test, the AKYA Heavyweight Torpedo (HWT) was equipped with a live active/passive acoustic sonar sensor for the first time.

The first launch test of the 533mm AKYA HWT without the warhead and active/passive acoustic sonar sensor was carried out successfully in the Sea of Marmara on July 11, 2013. Under the AKYA National Heavyweight Torpedo Program, Roketsan will develop the warhead and guidance system, Meteksan Defence will develop the sonar transducer arrays (sonar wet end), and Koç Information and Defence Technologies (KBS) will develop the Wake Sensors, Torpedo Test Range Underwater Detection and Positioning System, Acoustic Signal Generators, and the Underwater Acoustic Models (to verify the systems and software to be developed under the program).

The AKYA Phase-2 Project was signed between the SSB and Roketsan in July 2016. According to the 2017-2021 Strategic Plan Document published by the SSB in February 2017, critical sub-system qualification activities in the AKYA National Heavyweight Torpedo Program will be completed in two years, 50% in 2020 and 50% in 2021. The completion of the qualification process will effectively end foreign dependency in critical sub-systems. The AKYA HWT is planned to be used as the first alternative to the veteran heavyweight torpedoes (Mk14, Mk23, Mk37 Mod 2, Mk37 Mod 3, SST-4 Mod 0 and Mk24 Mod 2 TigerFish) onboard the submarines in the Turkish Naval Forces inventory. The AKYA HWT is designed to be fired against both surface targets (ASuW) and submarines (ASW). It is a battery-powered (Otto Fuel II is not preferred), fiber-optic cable guided heavyweight torpedo, equipped with an active/passive acoustic sonar, magnetic proximity sensor (can be replaced with an acoustic proximity sensor in the future), and wake sensor (wake-homing capability). Following the industrialization activities, the AKYA HWT is expected to be ready for the Serial Production Phase by the end of 2020. The AKYA is planned to be tested for the first time in the PREVEZE Class Submarines that will be equipped with the MÜREN Combat Management System (CMS) and subsequently used as the first alternative torpedo in all submarines in the Turkish Naval Forces inventory. The first torpedo launch with the MÜREN CMS is expected to be carried out at the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021.