Kale Arge Prepares to Introduce KTJ Series Turbojet Engine Family
The Platform integration activities of the KTJ-3200 Turbojet Engine, which will power the ATMACA Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM), KARA ATMACA Surface-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM), and SOM Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) Family, started in the last quarter of 2021 and firing tests are expected to begin in the second half of 2022. Under the contract, Kale Arge will continue to deliver KTJ-3200 engines as part of the Serial Production Phase in 2022, and hundreds of engines will be delivered over time.
A Contract was signed between Kale Arge and the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) on 5 November 2021 within the scope of the ARAT Project, which was initiated to develop and deliver indigenous turbojet engines for the Serial Production Phase of the new cruise missile with superior features and longer range. The ARAT Project aims to meet the engine needs of various platforms that require similar thrust ratings, especially the previously mentioned new cruise missile, with domestic and national resources. The ARAT TJ Engine, which will be designed and qualified for operation at high altitudes and in harsh environmental conditions, will meet a critical need for cruise missiles. With the ARAT TJ Engine, the KTJ Series engine family will expand further.
The new turbojet engine variant, which is expected to have a higher thrust capacity and lower specific fuel consumption, will be developed in accordance with the requirements of the new cruise missile. The ARAT Turbojet Engine will be designed and qualified to operate in high altitude and harsh environmental conditions. The ARAT TJ Engine, which will use fuel as a lubricant, as in the KTJ-3200 and the new variant TJ engine, will have higher thrust capacity, lower specific fuel consumption, and higher operating altitude compared to its counterparts, thanks to its improved aerodynamic design according to the platform requirements. I believe that ARAT will have similar capabilities to the TR40+ Turbojet Engine (configuration number 275-4), which is still procured from the SAFRAN Power Units Company (formerly Microturbo) to be used in the development process of the aforementioned new cruise missile (for the flight and firing tests).
Speaking on the "Akıl Çemberi" television program on CNN Türk on December 17, 2021, President of Defence Industries Prof. İsmail DEMİR also mentioned the GEZGİN Cruise Missile and pointed out that the Project continues with the experience gained from the SOM ALCM and ATMACA Anti-Ship Missile Projects. DEMİR underlined that although there is a possibility of carrying out some tests with the foreign engine, they will continue the serial production phase with the engine to be developed by Kale Arge under the ARAT Project.
I believe that ARAT TJ Engine prototypes will be ready in late 2022 or early 2023, testing with prototype engines will begin in 2023 at the Altitude Test Facility located in the Kale Arge Tuzla Development and Test Center campus (to do this, a series of modifications will be made to the Altitude Test System), and the engines will first be subjected to a series of tests on the ground in 2024 by TÜBİTAK SAGE, who is responsible for the design, development, prototype production, testing, and platform integration activities of the new cruise missile before the actual flight on the missile/platform. In this context, for example, the integration of the ARAT TJ Engine into the new cruise missile will begin after the engine prototypes are subjected to the Shaker (Vibration) Test in a test rig called the Shaker Table, which can generate the G-Forces that the missile will be exposed to during flight on the ground. Therefore, I think that the first flight test of the ARAT TJ Engine on the new cruise missile can only be carried out in 2025. Considering the thrust ratings of the foreign engines already procured or currently being procured from abroad, I think that the ARAT TJ Engine will have a thrust capacity, meeting the platform requirements
