It has been announced that a contract worth € 82 million has been signed between Aselsan and and Turkish Defence Industry Agency (Savunma Sanayii Ba?kanl?q?, SSB) for the procurement of Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS). Deliveries under the contract are scheduled to take place between 2024 and 2027. In January 2024, Aselsan and SSB also signed a contract for Naval Air Defence systems. According to a statement made by Aselsan on the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP), it was stated that a new contract valuing €15,6 milion and TRY 182.314.702 has been signed between Aselsan and SSB within the scope of Naval Air Defence Systems. The deliveries under this contract are planned to be completed between 2024 and 2027.
The GOKDENIZ (Turkish: Aselsan Gökdeniz) complex along with Aselsan ATOM 35mm airburst ammunition is an all-weather-capable Turkish 35 mm dual barrel close-in weapon system (CIWS) developed by Aselsan. It is a CIWS variant of KORKUT Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. Each GOKDENIZ platform carries a variant of Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon, manufactured under licence by MKEK. The system’s primary purpose is to defend against anti-ship missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and other precision-guided munitions. It can also be employed against conventional and rotary-wing aircraft, surface ships, small water-crafts, coastal targets and floating mines. The CIWS system, sensors and electronics manufactured by Aselsan. The CIWS can fire up to 1100 rounds a minute up to an effective range of 4 km.
The cannons fire 35×228 mm Aselsan ATOM 35mm airburst round and high-explosive incendiary (HEI) ammunition. In the anti-missile role it uses ATOM 35mm airburst ammunition from Aselsan. This round ejects tungsten pellets at a predetermined distance. It is a smart ammunition which has a base fuse. Together with the ability of precise time counting and the capability of being programmed during firing by taking muzzle velocity into consideration automatically sets the fuse to detonate the round as it approaches a pre-set distance from the target. Whilst a single pellet is too small to do major damage in itself, the accumulation of damage from multiple strikes is designed to destroy wings and control surfaces, sensors and aerodynamics, causing the target to crash.
According to Aselsan, the ATOM 35mm airburst ammunition is resistant against electromagnetic jamming. On the other hand, HEI ammunition designed to impart energy and therefore damage to its target in one or both of two ways: via a high-explosive charge and/or via its incendiary (fire-causing) effects. They caused fires, which on ships can be difficult to extinguish. The system allows loading of both ammunition at the same time and it can switch between ammunition type with automatic linkless ammunition feed mechanism when needed during the operation. The GOKDENIZ-ER is a further variation of the GOKDENIZ close-in weapon system. It will operate independently of ship sensors and systems, be armed with 11 missiles, and provide 360-degree coverage through AESA radar and electro-optical sensors.
