July 8, 2020 | International, Aerospace
In recent months, Turkey has deployed an array of air defense missile systems in Syria and Libya to deter and defend against air and drone attacks mounted by its rivals in these war zones.
On February 27, airstrikes killed 34 Turkish soldiers deployed in Syria's northwest province of Idlib during clashes with pro-regime forces. It was the largest single loss of Turkish troops in a single incident in years.
Turkey responded ferociously, launching Operation Spring Shield. It used its formidable armed drones to devastate Syrian ground forces and armor. Turkish Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighters shot down three Syrian warplanes with long-range AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles without having to leave Turkish airspace.
A Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the clashes in early March. However, Turkey quickly realized the importance of air defenses in the volatile region. It had already requested the U.S. deploy MIM-104 Patriot missiles on its southern border shortly after launching Operation Spring Shield.
Aside from its controversial purchase of S-400 air defenses from Russia, which it hasn't activated yet, Turkey's air defenses are mostly short- and medium-range and relatively antiquated.
The U.S. did not deploy any Patriots in Turkey this year. The only NATO country to deploy a Patriot battery in Turkey this year is Spain.
Ankara has since deployed its own MIM-23 air defense missiles in Idlib. However, that system is much older and much less effective than the PAC-3 Patriot.
The Turkish press also cited an official in early March saying that Turkey would deploy its domestically-built Hisar low-altitude air defense missiles to Idlib. However, it's unclear if any of these missiles were actually fielded.
It's also been claimed that Turkey even deployed old Soviet-era S-200 air defense systems, acquired from Ukraine, in northern Idlib. This claim is unverified and also highly unlikely.
The Turkish military is also becoming more deeply involved in the civil war in Libya where it's supporting the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), based in the capital Tripoli that controls the west, against General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), based in Benghazi that controls the east.
In Libya, Turkey has deployed a formidable array of air defense missiles in the country's west and has also made significant headway in establishing an “air defense bubble” around Tripoli.
As The Washington Institute for Near East Policy observed: “The combination of medium-range U.S.-made MIM-23 Hawk missile systems, Hisar short-range SAMs, and Korkut antiaircraft guns created a layered defense over critical infrastructure and reduced the threat to GNA drone ground stations and launch operations.”
“This protection, combined with an increase in Turkish operators and equipment, allowed Libyan government forces to increase the number and effectiveness of their drone operations,” the report added.
While formidable, Turkish air defenses in western Libya have their limitations.
Turkish military analyst Metin Gurcan, recently pointed out that “medium- and high-altitude air defense is vital for air dominance in the Sirte-al-Jufra axis, but this remains a problem for Turkey, though low-altitude air defense has been secured through the deployment of the Hisar air defense systems in Libya.”
Gurcan went on to note that Turkey's far more advanced high-altitude S-400s haven't been activated and the prospect of transferring those sophisticated missiles – which could establish a game-changing Anti Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) zone over wherever they are deployed – to Libya “is out of question.”
Turkey also deployed two MIM-23 Hawk batteries at al-Watiya airbase. They did not seem to have hindered an airstrike on July 3 carried out by unidentified warplanes, although they may not yet have been fully set up when that strike occurred.
The jets that attacked al-Watiya – which was captured from the LNA by a Turkish-backed GNA offensive in May that broke the LNA siege on Tripoli and enabled the GNA to go on the offensive – likely belonged to a foreign air force supporting the LNA. One Turkish official said the jets were Dassault Mirage fighters. If true, then they were most likely Mirage 2000 jets belonging to the United Arab Emirates, a key backer of Haftar.
The Arab Weekly, on the other hand, cited informed sources who claim the aircraft were Dassault Rafale jets, not Mirages. This would limit the attackers to either Egypt or France, both of which possess those multirole fighter jets and both of which support the LNA.
The LNA wants to prevent Turkey from establishing a base in al-Watiya and further solidify its growing presence in the country by creating more air defense bubbles across the west.
Turkey wants to help the GNA push on its offensive and capture the strategically-important city of Sirte and the al-Jufra region, including the eponymous airbase where Russia delivered MiG-29 and Su-24 warplanes in May.
What happens next in Libya is anyone's guess. Turkey is likely to retain its presence and increase the number of its air defense missiles in Libya, especially if the GNA advances further eastward in the coming weeks.
December 3, 2024 | International, Aerospace
Under these contracts, Elbit Systems will supply the IDF with advanced drones and autonomous systems to upgrade the operational capabilities of its forces in the field.
September 11, 2024 | International, Land
June 19, 2019 | International, Aerospace
By: Valerie Insinna LE BOURGET, France — Things are looking up for Kratos Defense's XQ-58A Valkyrie drone. Fresh off its second flight, the U.S. Air Force is considering buying 20-30 aircraft for further experimentation, the service's acquisition executive said Monday. “I'm now looking at ways to do that and what the cost will be,” Will Roper told reporters on the sidelines of Paris Air Show, saying that the Air Force is looking for prototyping funds that it can access for a rapid procurement of those aircraft. The XQ-5A Valkyrie is an “attritable” drone, the word the military uses for an asset that can be reused but is cheap enough that a commander could use them aggressively and would expect — and be comfortable with — some losses in combat. What sets Valkyrie apart is not only its low price point, which Kratos estimates will be $2 million per copy in a production run of 100 jets or more, but also the aircraft's near supersonic speed, long endurance and maneuverability, which could make it a formidable partner for manned fighter jets. Once the Air Force buys additional Valkyrie drones, the idea would be to pair those unmanned aircraft with manned fighter jets. “Depending on what comes out of that campaign, the idea would be to look and do a program of record. You'd want to start spiraling the development,” Roper said. A decision on starting a program could be made as soon as fiscal 2021, and from there it would be only two to three years to begin production and fielding aircraft, he said. “I am really pleased we're getting strong buy-in, strong appetite at the pointy end for attritable systems by our pilots.” Roper's comments come after another milestone for the Valkyrie — the second flight demo, held June 11 at Yuma Proving Grounds. According to a Kratos release, the aircraft completed unspecified objectives over a 71 minute test. “With this most recent milestone, the readiness of the XQ-58A is accelerating and increasing the near-term application opportunities for the system,” said Steve Fendley, the company's president of its unmanned systems division. “I am extremely proud of our development, production, and test teams who continue to deliver successful results, in record time, on our comprehensive system level efforts — rare within the aerospace and defense industry." The Air Force Research Laboratory is partnered with Kratos to develop Valkyrie through the Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator program, the service's effort to field a “Loyal Wingman”-style drone that can be flown alongside a fighter jet or other combat aircraft in manned-unmanned teams. But Roper has alluded to even more ambitious plans for Valkyrie or other attritable drones like it. Not only does the Air Force want to add sensors and weapons to Valkyrie, but it wants to implant artificial intelligence in the drone so that it can train and learn alongside pilots, eventually growing in skill and becoming able to respond independently to threats. Roper calls that effort “Skyborg” and in May told Defense News that the service was considering how to incorporate it with manned fighters like the F-35 and the F-15EX. “I don't want this to just be a laboratory project that lives and dies there in a petri dish. I want this to become a program,” he told reporters in March. “I want to see real, operational demonstrations within a couple years. And I will push them to be faster than that.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/paris-air-show/2019/06/17/us-air-force-looking-to-fast-track-cash-to-kratos-defense-for-additional-valkyrie-drones/