Türkiye successfully completes testing of Steel Dome air defence system

The Turkish Defence Industry Agency has announced that the capabilities of the SIPER Product-2, a national regional long-range air and missile defence system, were successfully tested.

The tests, conducted on September 12 at the Sinop Test Centre, involved the fire control centre, data transmission channel, missile launch system, and the SIPER Product-2 missile, with participation of representatives from the agency and armed forces representatives, Caliber.Az reports, citing Turkish media.

Head of the Turkish Defence Industry Agency Haluk Gorgun stated that the SIPER project, which serves as a long-range and high-altitude counterpart to the "Steel Dome," aims to provide strategic assets with extensive air defence capabilities and a distributed architecture to counter enemy attacks within the regional air defence.

He noted that the SIPER system will be capable of targeting aerial threats such as fighter jets, cruise missiles, and air-to-surface munitions. Later phases of the project will focus on developing capabilities to intercept ballistic missiles. The SIPER Product-1 system is planned to be deployed by the end of this year as part of the SIPER project.

 The SIPER air defence system incorporates a range of advanced features, including planning and coordination of air defence operations, management and distribution of information within command and control structures, and the creation of a unified air situation. It supports multiple engagement modes and sequential firing, with options for manual, semi-automatic, and automatic targeting.

The system also includes friend-or-foe identification (IFF), bidirectional communication with missiles, and both wired and wireless connectivity. SIPER can perform vertical and oblique launches, intercept a wide array of aerial threats at long ranges and high altitudes, and operate effectively under challenging conditions. It maintains communication with higher command through tactical data channels and supports operations with up to eight launchers, each capable of firing six missiles.