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A few days ago, Turkey unveiled their new air defense program intended to rival Israel’s famous Iron Dome, called the “Steel Dome”.
This new system is reported to be able to protect from a wide range of threats coming in from varying altitudes and will be enhanced by artificial intelligence capabilities. According to Turkish sources, the system will integrate all air defense systems, sensors, and weapons into one network, and is intended to cover Turkey’s entire air space.
According to The Defense Post’s reporting, Steel Dome could feature Turkey’s HiSAR, SiPER, and GURZ missiles connected through a radar link management system called RADNET. It will also be linked to a satellite through the Turkish T-link. Reportedly a multitude of its components are already within the Turkish Armed Forces arsenal. In terms of companies collaborating on the Steel Dome program, they are reported to include Turkey-based Aselsan, Rocketsan, TÜBİTAK SAGE, and Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation.
The Steel Dome is intended to have four ranges of air defense capabilities: very short, short, medium, and long range. The first layer covers a maximum range of 10 kilometers and a maximum altitude of 5 kilometers, and its last layer should have a range of up to 60 kilometers and cover altitudes between 15 and 30 kilometers.
Steel Dome intends to directly compete with Israel’s highly successful and proven air defense systems, which include Iron Dome for short-range attacks, David’s Sling for medium-range threats, and Arrow for long-range threats. As Israel is currently battling a ten-month war against its adversaries, air defense has been a crucial part in keeping Israeli civilians safe, from short-range attacks from Hamas and Hizballah to the infamous Iranian attack in April, which consisted of a swarm of UAVs and missiles launched from Iranian soil, and was foiled in a 99% success rate.
