Military Attaches Briefed on “SOM-J” by SSM
The Military Attaches of Allied Nations were hosted by Undersecretariat for Defense Industries officials to gain up-to date information about the SOM-J cruise missile program, that will be utilized by the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft developed in Turkey. The Military attaches of the allied nations showed tremendous interest.
Prior to his speech at the briefing, Dr.Celal Sami Tüfekçi, the Deputy Undersecretary for the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, with asseveration stated that “the Defense Industry has the capacity to not only cater to the needs of the Turkish Security Forces, but also to meet the requirements of Allied countries as well,” noting to the foreign representatives in attendance, that pronounced strides have been made in recent years in this regard.
SOM-J’s Impressive Capabilities
Dr.Celal Sami Tüfekçi, the Deputy Undersecretary for the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries said that the design, development and prototype demonstration of “SOM-J” cruise missile are constantly maintained by the parties involved and stating, “The Stand-off Missile will be addressed in relation to the needs identified by the cruise missile requirements for the Turkish Air Force’s F-35 JSF program. Within the scope of program, as the SOM Configurations are currently fitted in our Turkish Air Force fleet, modification integration of SOM missile is currently being carried out to fit into the internal weapons bay of the F-35 aircraft.” Dr. Tüfekçi continued “SOM-J development activities commenced upon the signing of the contract with the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries and Roketsan in the beginning of 2014 with TUBITAK-Sage as the subcontractor. Roketsan and TUBITAK-Sage have teamed up with Lockheed Martin in the development phase of the SOM-J program. SOM-J first flight demonstration is scheduled for the second quarter of 2017. Block-4 configuration of the Turkish F-35s will be equipped with the SOM-J Cruise Missile.”
SOM-J Features ASuW Capabilities
The SOM-J is a high precision, all weather, air-to-surface and anti-surface next generation cruise missile to be used against highly defended, anti-access, stationary and moving land/surface (ASuW) targets. SOM-J missile design stands out in theater with its modular design to support operational flexibility. The SOM-J missile uses Global Positioning System as its primary guidance and is aided by inertial, terrain-referenced and image-based navigation systems, as well as an imaging infrared seeker. Due to changes in target positioning, it is capable of in flight re-targeting as well. Changes such as altitude during approach and angle of target impact can be made in-flight. SOM-J is developed and outfitted with measures to withstand standoff jammer systems. The missile is expected to gain the lacking ASuW capability of F-35 fleets.
