Bozdoğan (''Merlin''), is a short-range air-to-air missile developed by the Turkish company TÜBİTAK SAGE. The missile is developed under the GÖKTUĞ program from 2013. The missile is being developed to replace the

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a short-range air-to-air missile. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants rema ...

missiles used by the

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force () is the Air force, air and space force of the Turkish Armed Forces. It traces its origins to 1 June 1911 when it was founded as the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons, Aviation Squadrons by the Ottoman Empire. It was composed ...

. The missile uses an off-boresight capable IIR (Imaging infrared) seeker with all aspect engagement capability and counter-countermeasure capability. The missile has High thrust reduced smoke

solid propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or another motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, th ...

technology and an electronic rocket motor aiming and firing system. According to the manufacturer, it will have advanced agility due to use of

thrust vectoring Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to Aircraft flight control system, control the Spacecra ...

, a unique warhead for maximum

probability of kill {{No footnotes, date=July 2024 Computer games, simulations, mathematical model, models, and operations research programs often require a mechanism to determine statistically how likely the engagement between a weapon and a target will result in a sa ...

and a reliable

fuze In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates its function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fu ...

. It missile is compatible with

MIL-STD-1553 MIL-STD-1553 is a military standard published by the United States Department of Defense that defines the mechanical, electrical, and functional characteristics of a serial data bus. It was originally designed as an avionic data bus for use w ...

and

MIL-STD-1760 MIL-STD-1760 Aircraft/Store Electrical Interconnection System defines a standardized electrical interface between a military aircraft and its carriage stores. Carriage stores range from weapons, such as GBU-31 JDAM, to pods, such as AN/AAQ-14 L ...

and is designed for use with the LAU-129 guided missile launcher.

History

On 14 April 2021, ''Bozdoğan'' conducted a live firing test from a Turkish Air Force F-16. The missile successfully destroyed a

TAI Şimşek TAI Şimşek is a turbojet-powered radio-controlled high-speed target drone designed, developed and built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) between 2009 and 2012 for the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces. Şimşek is the Turkish word for "li ...

target drone. ''Bozdoğan'' reaches a speed of greater than Mach 4. It was announced that preparations for mass production have begun in 2022. The first ''prototype'' contract for the supply of the missile to the

was made in 2023. Within the scope of the project; It is aimed to integrate the Bozdoğan and Gökdoğan Missiles into the PO-III configuration of F-16 aircraft and to procure 25 Bozdoğan Missiles, 25 Gökdoğan Missiles and 14 Launchers and to make the first delivery in 2025. The first prototypes were delivered on July 28, 2024. The Bozdoğan missile will also be used in the air defense system called ''Göksur'', developed by Aselsan. The Göksur system, whose first tests were conducted in 2024, successfully completed its first firing test in February 2025.

User

Current operators

; :

Future operators

; :

Azerbaijan Air Force The Azerbaijani Air Forces and Air Defense Troops (stylized as ), composed of the Azerbaijani Air Forces () and the Azerbaijani Air Defense Troops (), are the air and air defense service branch of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. History The Azerb ...

References

{{missile-stub Short range air-to-air missiles Military equipment introduced in the 2020s Air-to-air missiles of Turkey

History

User

Current operators

Future operators

See also

References