Turkey's New Ambition with the Unveiling of an Intercontinental Missile

TEHRAN (Defapress) - In the 1990s, Türkiye began cooperating with China by signing an agreement with the company CPMIEC (China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation), allowing the company Roketsan to develop the short-range ballistic missile J-600T "Yıldırım" based on the Chinese B-611 missile. This missile was officially registered on the United Nations arms registry in 2007, six years after entering service.

Since then, Ankara has continued to develop its deep-strike capabilities, ultimately achieving the "Tayfun" missile. The existence of this missile was revealed in October 2022, when the DHA Press released images of a successful test of this new ballistic missile. The missile's range is reported to be approximately 560 kilometers.

However, it seemed that Turkish officials would have preferred information about Tayfun to remain confidential for a longer period; at least, that was the impression at the time. Nevertheless, a few weeks later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used the success of this test to pressure Greece.

In a speech on December 11, 2022, the Turkish President said: "We have now started producing our own missiles, and this naturally frightens the Greeks. When they hear the name 'Tayfun,' they get worried and say that Athens could be targeted. If you do not maintain your calm, such a thing might happen. If you attempt to transfer the weapons you have received from the United States to the [disputed] islands in the Aegean, Türkiye will not stand idly by and will react."

In response, Nikos Dendias, then Greece's Foreign Minister, commented on these remarks by saying: "The North Korean method cannot and should not enter the North Atlantic Treaty."

Subsequently, in July 2025, Roketsan announced that it was developing a new version of the Tayfun missile called "Tayfun Block 4." According to Turkish media reports, this missile was successfully tested last December.

Haluk Görgün, head of Türkiye's Defense Industry, told the Anadolu Agency regarding this: "This successful test has ushered the Tayfun missile into a new phase, expanded our security horizon, and strengthened our deterrent capability. We continue to strengthen our arsenal with new systems and increase deterrence through multi-layered, indigenous, and national solutions. This success is not limited merely to the accuracy of a single launch; it is the result of years of effort by our engineers, the ingenuity of our youth, and the will of our nation."

Given the significant progress of this project, the Tayfun Block 4 has been officially unveiled at the SAHA 2026 defense exhibition currently being held in Istanbul. Mounted on a mobile Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) based on the Koluman company's 8x8 "Derman" vehicle, this missile is larger than its predecessor; it weighs approximately 7 tons, has a length of about 10 meters, and its range is estimated to be between 1000 and 1500 kilometers.

However, Türkiye is also pursuing a more ambitious goal: the development of the Yıldırımhan missile, an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) with a range exceeding 5500 kilometers. This project was also introduced at the SAHA 2026 exhibition and is being advanced by the Turkish Ministry of Defense's Research and Development Center. Based on the limited information released about the project, the missile will use liquid fuel (implying silo-based launch) and will have the capability to carry a warhead weighing 3000 kilograms.

The newspaper Yeni Şafak has reported that Yıldırımhan will be equipped with four rocket engines and will use liquid dinitrogen tetroxide as fuel. The media outlet added that the project "demonstrates the growth of Türkiye's technological capabilities in the field of strategic missiles." However, Yıldırımhan is currently just a project, and it remains to be seen whether it will become operational; this depends on the results of future tests, which appear likely to be conducted in the near future. At the same time, the project has raised questions, including those regarding the type of warhead it will carry.

Regarding this, Étienne Marcoux, a researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research, says: "Currently, all intercontinental ballistic missiles in the world are equipped with nuclear warheads. Will Türkiye be the first country to introduce an ICBM with a conventional warhead? If so, will it use a single heavy warhead or submunitions, similar to those seen on the Russian Oreshnik missile?"