Date: Issue 94 - September 2019
It was announced on TÜBİTAK SAGE’s social media account that the SOM-J Cruise Missile, which was developed by lowering the features of SOM Cruise Missiles, via TÜBİTAK SAGE and ROKETSAN cooperation, so that it can fit into the interior station of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter of (JSF), could be integrated into the National Combat Aircraft (MMU/T-FX) and Akıncı UAV after Turkey’s suspension from F-35 program.
In the announcement made on the Institute’s twitter account, following statements appeared: “The SOM-J missile developed by TÜBİTAK SAGE and Roketsan for F-35 aircraft could be integrated into the National Combat Aircraft and Akıncı UAV. In addition, as one of the few countries in the world developing cruise missile for the F-35 aircraft, it can be exported to friendly and allied countries”.
The SOM-J missile is a member of the medium-range, air-to-land ammunition family SOM and was designed to be used against heavily protected land and sea targets. The SOM-J missile has a modular design to support the required operational flexibility and was developed based on SOM Ammunition technology, which already exists in the inventory of the Turkish Air Force.