Türkiye developing new engine for long-range cruise missile

The Turkish defence industrial company Kale Arge has announced the start of development of a “Turbofan rocket engine”.

Kale Arge CEO Cüneyt Kenger emphasized that turbofan engines have higher fuel efficiency than turbojet engines, so Türkiye will be able to develop longer-range cruise missiles, SavunmaSanayiST.com wrote on social media account X, Caliber.Az reports.

Kale Arge'den Turbofan Füze Motoru müjdesi!

Türk savunma sanayii firması Kale Arge, 'Turbofan Füze Motoru' için geliştirme faaliyetlerine başladığını açıkladı. Böylelikle Türkiye, daha uzun menzilli seyir füzeleri geliştirebilecek.

Konuyla ilgili olarak SavunmaSanayiST'nin… pic.twitter.com/7thBU90Qrf

— SavunmaSanayiST.com (@SavunmaSanayiST) January 21, 2024

Referring to Kale Arge's experience in the field of turbofan engines with the KTJ-3200, KTJ-1750, KTJ-3700 and ARAT projects, Cüneyt Kenger said: “I would not say that we should gradually move to turbofan engines, but we think it is appropriate time to add them to our production. We have started research into turbofan engines from 2023.”

To recap, virtually all short- and medium-range anti-ship and cruise missiles use turbojet engines. Examples include the SOM cruise missile, ATMACA anti-ship missile, Harpoon anti-ship missile, NSM anti-ship missile, ÇAKIR cruise missile, Storm Shadow/SCALP EG cruise missile and Exocet anti-ship missile.

On the other hand, turbofan rocket engines are preferred in long-range cruise or anti-ship missiles such as Tomahawk, AGM-158 LRASM or Babur.

     KTJ-3200: installed on SOM and ATMACA missiles.

     KTJ-1750: installed on the ÇAKIR missile.

     KTJ-3700: Will be used in the KARA ATMACA cruise missile.

     ARAT: will be used for cruise missiles.