Turkey’s Akinci Fires ‘Spinning Fins’ IHA-230 Air-To-Surface Missile; Can Hit Ground Targets With Ease

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Turkey’s Akinci unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) has test-fired an air-to-ground/air-to-surface missile (AGM/ASM), the first in the country that can fly at “supersonic” speeds. It is designed to counter targets like tactical battlefield command centers, bunkers, logistics nodes, and light armored vehicles. 

However, an interesting feature of the missile visible in the launch video is the rotating rear fins near the exhaust, presumably to stabilize the munition in flight by preventing it from ‘rolling.’

The action is caused by airflow around the missile’s length that makes the fins rotate, spinning on a loose tail-end section, possibly on ball bearings. These control surfaces have been identified as rollerons, with their variations seen on older US and Russian air-to-air missiles.

The Missile & its Features

A report from the state-run news agency headquartered in Ankara, Anadolu Agency, identified the missile as the IHA-230, capable of hitting targets at a distance of 140 km (90 miles).

The test was conducted at the Sinop Firing Range in the Black Sea. The Akinci is a product of Turkish drone and aerospace major Baykar, while the IHA-230 has been developed by missile and munition giant Roketsan.

It would be pertinent to note that Pakistan too, is a user of the Akinci UCAV, acquiring the first six to seven such units of the High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) drone in April 2023. Reports suggest Islamabad is likely to buy more such platforms in the coming years.

The Akinci UCAV seen with the IHA-230 ASM during testing. Source: Baykar

The missile was first test-fired on December 16, 2022, with the Akinci at an altitude of 7.6 km, according to Selcuk Bayraktar, Baykar’s chief technology officer (CTO). The second test took place more than three months later, around April 2023.

The IHA-230 destroyed a target in the Black Sea at a distance of 140 km, with the Akinci taking off from the Flight Training and Test Centre. The missile was launched as the drone approached the Sinop province.

The successive tests indicate Rokestan has been examining different features of the missile, ranging from carriage and release mechanisms, propulsion, warhead efficiency, and guidance and navigation.

Tactics

The IHA-230 (also called the  UAV-230), according to Roketsan, can operate in “day and night” conditions and is “effective against stationary land and sea targets, air defense radar and communication systems, light armored land or sea vehicles, critical facilities such as command centers, personnel, and targets of opportunity.”

The “operational range” of over “150 km” is, however, dependent “on the speed and altitude at which the missile is released.”

It primarily uses a “fragmentation warhead” (or blast fragmentation warhead as it is commonly known), but can also be installed with other “different versions against different target types”.

“The system is readied for its mission after completion of the firing preparation process before leaving the UAV. After being released from the UAV, it falls freely in the air for a certain period and autonomously ignites the solid fuel engine,” Roketsan adds. In other words, target coordinates and locations are loaded into the missile’s navigation and guidance system on the ground before launch.

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