Turks: They secretly increased the range of Turkish F-16 missiles over 100 km to counter Greek Rafales.
The Turks have equipped the Turkish F-16 with the GÖKDOĞAN missiles (Beyond Vision Air Missile).
These missiles actually work to replace the American AIM-120 AMRAAMs and their official range is 65 km.
However, according to Ismail Demir, president of the Turkish Defense Industry, the range of the air-to-air GÖKDOĞAN, developed by the Turkish TÜBİTAK-SAGE, was revised to over 100 km.
“Anyway, let’s not get too into it,” added Ismail Demir.
The range of the GÖKDOĞAN missile has been increased by almost 50% and its production is expected to start this year.
It is clear that the Turks are planning how to deal with the Greek Rafale, which with the Meteor have made it difficult for the Turkish pilots.
However, in essence, the Turks may have increased the fuel in their missiles, but they also need improvement in speed and guidance (the Turks do not have AESA on their F-16s). With 80% deviation there is no comparison of the Turkish missiles with the Meteor.
At the same time, it is the first time that Turkey admits the lack of spare parts for Turkish F-16s.
Ismail Demir emphasized that the F-35 should not be connected to the F-16 as the Turks have “damages in this process”.
That is, the connection of the F-35s with the F-16s creates a problem in the chain of Turkish fighters and spare parts (with the problem becoming bigger as time goes by).
