Indonesia Becomes First Export Customer for Turkey’s KHAN Ballistic Missile System
ROKETSAN, a Turkish defense industry missile and rocket system manufacturer, attended the international defense and security fair INDO Defense Expo & Forum 2022, which was held in Jakarta, Indonesia from November 2-5. During the fair, the company signed an agreement for the export of the KHAN Missile System and a multi-layer air defense system with the Indonesian Ministry of Defense. The signing ceremony was attended by Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and Turkish Defense Industry President İsmail Demir.
These sales comprise of both Government-to-Government (G2G) and Business-to-Business (B2B) agreements, which Roketsan and a foreign business partner negotiated. Although Roketsan officials did not disclose additional information about the agreements, according to information obtained by Savunma SanayiST; Roketsan submitted an offer to the main contractor, Excalibur, and it was discovered that the loan to Indonesia will be provided by Czech Eximbank. With the agreements, Roketsan will develop new air defense systems in accordance with the requirements of Indonesia using the knowledge gained from the HİSAR and SİPER projects. Furthermore, for the first time, the KHAN missile system, an export version of the Roketsan-produced BORA ballistic missile, will enter the inventory of a military other than the Turkish Armed Forces.
In an interview with an AA correspondent, ROKETSAN Deputy General Manager Murat Kurtuluş stated, “With the contracts we signed, we will be putting our first products into the service of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense in the near future.” There are two separate matters. The first is the Surface-to-Surface Long-Range Artillery System Khan. This is an important weapon system that is effective at a range of up to 280 kilometers and with high precision in the depths of the battlefield. For the first time, the Indonesian army will use the Khan system. The second matter is layered air defense. In this regard, the Indonesian Ministry of Defense had different requirements. We have created a new model in collaboration with our international business partners. A technical and financial model has been developed. We will present our first layered air defense system products as two separate medium and long-range systems here. In the coming months, we will also discuss short-range air defense systems.”
In order to meet the long-range surface-to-surface missile system requirements of the Ground Forces Command, the BORA Ballistic Missile Systems was developed based on the contract titled “B (BORA) Missile and B (BORA) Weapon System Project” signed between the Turkish Defense Industry Presidency and Roketsan in 2009. In 2014, the BORA missile system was initially added to the TAF inventory. Bora was formally unveiled at the IDEF-17 fair that took place in Turkey in 2017. The BORA missile’s “Khan” export variant was also on display at IDEX-2017 in the United Arab Emirates. Only two years following these advancements, the Turkish Armed Forces’ Operation Claw, which was conducted in northern Iraq, saw the first operational usage of the Bora missile. Bora was later used during the Spring Shield Operation, which was launched on February 27, 2020 by the Turkish Armed Forces and the Syrian National Army against the Syrian city of Idlib.
According to Roketsan, the Bora missile is launched from the Roketsan-built BORA Weapon System 8×8 Tactical Wheeled Vehicle and the Roketsan Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher Weapon System. It can be launched from other Tactical Wheeled Vehicle platforms and has an interface suitable for integration based on user requirements. The KHAN weapon system, with its fully automatic navigation and guidance systems, can carry out strike missions with a crew of only three people: the section commander, loader, and driver. Bora, a composite solid-fuel, single-stage tactical ballistic missile, is similar to China’s B-611 missile system. The BORA missile, which weighs 2.5 tons and has a diameter of 61 cm, can carry a conventional warhead weighing approximately 470 kg. The missile with GPS/INS guidance systems has a range of 280 km and a maximum CEP (circular error probability) of 10 m.