*AKYA HWT’s LRIP Started, First Batch is Due for Delivery in December 2021!
With the delivery of LRIP Phase AKYA HWTs to the TNFC the AKYA Phase-II (Industrialization and Pre-production Phase) Project will be also completed. Signed between the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) and Main Contractor ROKETSAN in July 2016 the AKYA Phase-II Project aims to industrialize the AKYA National HWT prototype (controlled test torpedo), which was developed under the Phase-I (Development Phase) Agreement that signed on May 8, 2009 between the SSB and ROKETSAN and make it ready for Series Production by developing its critical sub-systems in line with the capabilities of the Turkish Naval Sector companies.
The first launch test of the 533mm AKYA HWT without the warhead and active/passive acoustic head was carried out successfully in the Sea of Marmara on July 11, 2013, with the support of the Turkish Naval Research Centre Command (TNRCC/ARMERKOM). Within the scopes of AKYA National HWT Development Program Phase-I and Phase-II more than 60 firing tests (including Controlled Test Firings and Guided Test Firings) have been conducted so far with controlled test torpedoes and guided test torpedoes launched from detailed 533mm torpedo tube replica installed to an underwater test platform and a submarine. Within the scope of the AKYA National HWT Development Program in order to carry out of qualification tests in a marine environment with indigenous resources and capabilities Turkey has established a Torpedo Test Range in the Sea of Marmara. KoçSavunma’s acoustic buoys, equipped with smart embedded systems, have been used in the qualification testing phase of the AKYA HWT at the Torpedo Test Range.
Before the start of Series Production Phase deliveries, to be carried out under a separate contract, a war shot (with live warhead and acoustic head) AKYA HWT is planned to be tested against an actual surface target (target ship) during the first months of 2022.
Speaking at the 10th edition of Naval Systems Seminar (NSS) that took place on November 15-16, 2021 in Ankara the Technical Manager of the Turkish Naval Forces, Rear Admiral Ramis AKIN, underlined that the development and test efforts for the AKYA National HWT are being carried out by companies taking part in the project and when the project is completed all classes of the submarines (AY, PREVEZE, GÜR and REİS) in the TNFC inventory would be able to fire AKYA HWT. “We are very close to achieve this capability!” Read Admiral AKIN noted. For this purpose, with the support of TNFC, Main Contractor ROKETSAN will carry out harmonization works on the existing Combat Management Systems (CMS) of these submarine classes.
Meanwhile at his presentation with a title of ‘Underwater Systems’, ROKETSAN’s Underwater Systems Project Manager Levent ÇOMOĞLU underlined that the Qualification Phase of the AKYA National HWT has already begun. According to ÇOMOĞLU the TNFC’s acceptance trials for the AKYA HWT would begin in November 2021 and will be finished in December. “We plan to complete the acceptance process by the end of November and to begin AKYA HWT deliveries in December,” said ÇOMOĞLU. “The initial deliveries will be made as part of the LRIP Phase. The AKYA National HWT Project’s Series Production Phase deliveries are scheduled to take place in 2022. In 2022, the Turkish Naval Forces will conduct a live-fire test of the AKYA HWT against an actual naval target,” ÇOMOĞLU added.
Equipped with an active/passive sonar and a two-way fiber-optic cable (with a length of over 50km) the indigenously developed AKYA HWTw is claimed to have similar features (in terms of sensor equipment, speed and range values) and even additional capabilities with some of the features of the new generation heavy torpedoes (DM2A4 and Mk48 Mod6/7 AT) in the Turkish Naval Forces (TNF) inventory. For example, the wake-homing sensor, which provides guidance to the wake water, is an option in the DM2A4 HWT, while it is among the standard equipment in the next generation HWT AKYA. In addition, AKYA is claimed to be much cheaper than its counterparts!
Speaking at the Press Conference organized on August 16, 2021 in İstanbul, Turkey prior to IDEF '21 Fair, ROKETSAN General Manager Murat İKİNCİ emphasized that the first batch of AKYA HWT will be delivered to the Turksih Naval Fores before the end of this year. General Manager İKİNCİ said, “AKYA will be the main weapon of our submarines. As you know, AKYA was first launched from our TCG Gür Submarine and the firing tests are still in progress in the Sea of Marmara. The AKYA HWT is a system that very few countries in the world can develop, a system that can be launched from a submarine. The fact that it was developed and produced with domestic means is quite encouraging as to the level that the Turkish Defense Industry has reached. The AKYA HWT, which can be used against submarines and surface ships, will also be a platform with more superior features than its advanced versions, not only with its sonar seeker head, but also with wake-homing sensor that is sensitive to the sound and motion of the ships’ propellers. The number of countries in the world that can develop this platform is quite limited. ROKETSAN has already achieved this. Unfortunately, there is no place where you can find them ready without accomplishing the fundamental technologies, from the engine to the electrical systems, from the warhead to the active/passive sonar head, to the electronic control systems. That’s why domestic and national technology is indispensable for us.”
The next generation AKYA National Heavyweight Torpedo (HWT) Project was launched on May 8, 2009 to meet the 533mm (21 inches) modern heavyweight torpedo requirement of the Turkish Naval Forces Command (TNFC) through national means and capabilities. The first launch test with the AKYA National Heavyweight Torpedo prototype without the warhead and active/passive sonar was successfully carried out from a 533mm torpedo tube placed on an underwater test platform in the Sea of Marmara on July 11, 2013, and since than more than ten firing tests in different configurations were carried out with AKYA HWT prototypes, which have not been publicly disclosed yet. The first guided firing test with the AKYA Heavyweight Training Exercise Torpedo (without a live warhead) against a mock target was successfully carried out from GÜR Class (Type 209/1400 Mod) TCG Gür Submarine of the TNF on January 20, 2021 at the Submarine Training Field located in the Gulf of İzmit in Marmara Sea. At the test the AKYA HWT scored a direct hit to simulated surface target.
Under the AKYA National Heavyweight Torpedo Program, Main Contractor ROKETSAN developed the warhead, processor and guidance system, METEKSAN DEFENCE developed the active/passive sonar head (both wet-end and dry-end including sonar transducer arrays), and KoçSavunma developed the Wake Homing Sonar, Torpedo Test Range Underwater Detection and Positioning System, Acoustic Signal Generators, and the Underwater Acoustic Models (to verify the systems and software developed under the program)
