SİPER is Türkiye's first indigenous long-range area air and missile defense system, and it has now moved from development into series production and service. ASELSAN, ROKETSAN and the state research institute TÜBİTAK SAGE developed it under the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB). It forms the upper tier of the layered Steel Dome architecture, and the first battery was delivered in August 2025.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Developers | ASELSAN (radars, fire control, C2), ROKETSAN (missiles), TÜBİTAK SAGE (R&D) |
| Operator | Turkish Air Force |
| Program | SSB program launched 2018; series production contract December 2023 |
| Status | First battery delivered August 2025; deliveries through 2029 |
| Range | SİPER 1: 70+ km; SİPER 2: 150+ km (manufacturer data) |
What is the SİPER?
SİPER is built to defend strategic sites and wide areas against fighters, helicopters, cruise missiles, air-to-ground munitions and large unmanned aircraft. The architecture is distributed. A regional level holds a control center and a long-range search radar, while each battery has a fire control center, a fire control radar, launchers carrying six missiles each, transloader vehicles, communications and simulators.
ASELSAN says its ALP 310, an S-band active electronically scanned array radar with digital beamforming, was developed specifically for the long-range search role. The system exchanges data over Link 16 and JREAP, so it can work with Turkish Air Force, Army and Navy command nodes and, by extension, with NATO networks.
Key features
According to ASELSAN's May 2025 product sheet, SİPER 1 reaches more than 70 km and 20 km in altitude and launches at an incline, while SİPER 2 reaches more than 150 km and 30 km and can launch vertically as well. Coverage is 360 degrees. A battery tracks 100 targets, engages 10 of them and guides 20 missiles at once. Interceptors use two-way data links and an active radar seeker for the terminal phase.
Earlier official statements and press coverage described the first block as a 100+ km weapon, so figures quoted in the media can differ. The data above follows the manufacturer sheet.
Program, service and exports
SSB launched the program in 2018. ASELSAN handles sensors, fire control and command and control, ROKETSAN designs and produces the missiles, and TÜBİTAK SAGE contributes guidance research, flight testing and next-generation missile work. Series production contracts for SİPER and HİSAR were signed on 17 December 2023. On 27 August 2025 ASELSAN handed over a 47-vehicle Steel Dome package worth more than 460 million dollars, which included one SİPER system with ten vehicles, together with HİSAR and KORKUT systems. A series-production SİPER-1 battery then completed its acceptance firing at the Sinop test range against a maneuvering target in December 2025.
The family keeps growing: in May 2026 SSB President Haluk Görgün announced SİPER-A, an interceptor aimed at the ballistic missile defense layer. No export contract has been confirmed, but with the system fielded at home, Turkish industry has a credible long-range offer for markets that want an alternative to U.S., European or Russian systems.
SİPER sits in the same class as the Patriot, SAMP/T and the S-300/S-400 family. It went from program launch to a fielded battery in about seven years, combining sovereign control with NATO-standard interoperability.
Source: Envanter Medya