Turkey has announced more successful test firings of a hypervelocity electromagnetic (EM) railgun weapon system that will arm the next-generation guided missile frigates of the Turkish Naval Forces or the Turkish Navy.
Turkey is only the third country after the United States and China known to be developing railgun weapon systems.
The railgun recently tested is named "TÜBITAK SAPAN." This is a 14 megajoule (MJ) weapon using technology similar to that of railguns developed by the U.S. Navy. EM railguns rely on electromagnetic forces to generate very high kinetic energies. They fire specially-made hypervelocity projectiles towards targets as far away as 100 km at speeds of up to 3,500 meters per second or 12,600 km/h.
cc is Turkey's first domestically engineered railgun. The word "sapan" is Turkish for a sling. "Tübitak," is an acronym for the state-run "Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey." It is a national agency that conducts research, technology and development studies in line with national priorities.
Over the past decade, Tübitak has conducted extensive research into inertial confinement fusion technology. The Sapan railgun is a by-product of this research. Tübitak also develops "science, technology and innovation" policies; supports and conducts research and development, and plays a leading role in the creation of a science and technology culture in Turkey.
The Turkish Armed Forces said the recent Sapan railgun test saw the high-density, hypervelocity projectile travel faster than Mach 7.5 (9,300 km/h). It plans to boost the velocity of the hypervelocity round to Mach 8.5 (10,500 km/h), making it incredibly difficult for a target to intercept the round in flight.
Since the hypervelocity round carries no electronic components, it is optimized for stealth and can't be countered by electronic warfare technologies. It can't be jammed. In one of the live fire tests, the railgun's hypervelocity projectile punched through a one-meter-thick reinforced bunker.
It was only in April 2016 that Turkey released the first photos of its new Sapan railgun that will arm the Turkish Navy's TF-2000-class anti-air warfare frigates currently undergoing development by the Turkish Naval Institute.
Sapan, which was first tested in 2014, will allow Turkey to compete with the U.S. and China, the only other countries in the world currently developing railguns.
The TF-2000 class frigate will be survivable against modern aerial threats. It will also support combat functions such as C4ISR, early warning, surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and electronic warfare.
The Turkish Navy plans to build eight of these warships, all of which will be armed with full-scale, combat-ready versions of Sapan.
