ROKETSAN and STM, two leading companies in the Turkish Defence Industry, have joined forces to develop ALPAGUT a Smart Loitering Munition System that will change the rules on the battlefield. The smart Loitering Munition System, was unveiled for the first time at SAHA EXPO at an event attended by Prof. Dr. Ismail Demir, President of the Defence Industry Agency (SSB); Murat Ikinci, ROKETSAN General Manager; and Özgür Güleryüz, STM General Manager. The effectiveness and importance of Intelligent Loitering Munitions has been increasing gradually in recent years amid the ongoing wars and conflicts in different parts of the world. ROKETSAN, Türkiye’s rocket and missile production center, and STM, Türkiye’s leading company in the production of Tactical Mini-UAVs, have joined forces to develop ALPAGUT as a new and effective solution to meet this need in the field in the fastest way possible.
Güleryüz closed the speeches, said “We are taking STM’s experience and competence in the field of smart munitions to a higher level through our cooperation with ROKETSAN. We expect ALPAGUT to be a game changer and a considerable strike force in the field for the armies of friendly and brotherly nations, but especially our security forces.”
Speaking on behalf of Roketsan, ?kinci, said “We are bringing this technology, which will be adaptable to the changing concepts of the battlefield, to Türkiye in a successful cooperation with STM. We can see that ALPAGUT, which we have developed primarily to meet the requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and security forces, will also have important export potential and will reinforce Türkiye’s leading role in the global defence sector.”
In his address delivered at the ceremony marking the signing of a cooperation protocol for ALPAGUT, Prof. Dr. Demir said, “ROKETSAN and STM, two leading corporations in the Turkish defence industry, have joined forces for ALPAGUT, a smart loitering munition system. ALPAGUT is a significant reflection of our national engineering experience in this field, and will stand as an effective solution against radar and communication systems, critical facilities such as command centers, targets of opportunity, as well as land and sea targets. I hope that it will produce good results.”
ALPAGUT, which is capable of being operated day and night, will be an effective against mobile or stationary targets, on land or at sea, radar and communication systems, light armored land and sea vehicles, critical facilities such as command centers, personnel and targets of opportunity. With an operational radius of 60 kilometers, endurance more than 60 minutes and different types of warheads, ALPAGUT, can be used individually or in swarm configurations. Once fired/released, the system will enter into target detection, tracking and evaluation mode, hovering in the air for a certain period of time, and will then begin an attack dive to destroy the identified target autonomously after obtaining user approval from the ground.
ALPAGUT can detect and recognize targets with its two-mode seeker without being noticed, and is unaffected by jamming systems. The target can be pinpointed with a precision guidance-control propulsion system. In addition to all these features, the system also offers significant advantages to its users with its fire&forget feature, and in its ability to be rapidly integrated into manned and unmanned land/air/sea vehicles. The system will be developed as a major game changer in the battlefield. Its ability to be swiftly integrated with domestically-manufactured UCAV systems will allow rapid engagement with mobile air defence systems, strategic ground elements and asymmetric targets.
