Turkey successfully test-fired SOM-B2 cruise missile as Israeli company publishes satellite images showing Russian S400 missiles are placed in Turkey
Turkish Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Oarank has announced the successful test launch of the first SOM-B2 cruise missile capable of penetrating concrete bunkers.
This came in a statement, Thursday, through his Tweeter account after the success of the test.
“The launch of the first SOM-B2 cruise missile capable of successfully penetrating concrete bunkers, manufactured by the Defense Industry Development and Research Institute, was conducted in cooperation with the Turkish Defense Industries Presidency”, the minister said.
The head of the Turkish Defense Industries Corporation, Ismail Demir, announced the success of the first test of the cruise missile “SOM-B2”.
“The SOM-B2 missile successfully hit the target in the test, and ground and air tests were successfully completed”, he said in a tweet.
The Turkish announcement comes at a time when satellite images published by the Israeli company “ISI” showed three batteries of S400 missiles stationed at the Turkish air base “Morted” near the capital Ankara.
An accompanying commentary to these satellite images drew the conclusion that the radars of the S-400 anti-air missile system appeared to be operational, but the launch pads were not ammunition.
Russia began the second phase of supplying Turkey with S-400 shipments in August, while an agreement was reached to provide Ankara with this unique anti-air missile system in September 2017 with a contract worth $ 2.5 billion, half of which will be covered by a Russian loan.
The first batch of these modern air defense missiles, described by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the most powerful in the world, began on July 12 and ended in late August, organizing 30 special flights to Turkey.
Turkey’s purchase of Russian air defense systems has caused great tension in relations between Turkey and the United States, and Washington tried to persuade and intimidate Ankara in order to abandon the deal, and tempted instead to buy US systems “Patriot”.
In light of Ankara’s refusal to make concessions and return to its deal with Moscow for the purchase of the “S-400”, Washington has stopped the Turkish participation in the program “F-35”.
#Turkey, #Ankara, Mürted Akinci #Airbase: Deployed #S400 launch components.#ISI #IMINT #VISINT #intelligence #Russia pic.twitter.com/96IwRNBT3x
— ImageSat Intl. (@ImageSatIntl) September 3, 2019
