Turkey to produce long-range missiles in light of its nuclear ambitions

According to the country’s procurement office, Turkey’s state-controlled missile-maker Roketsan is developing a long-range ground-to-ground missile and weapons system.

The Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, or SSM, said that “deliveries continue on in line with the program’s timetable.” However, it is still unclear if these are new prototypes or the systems, dubbed “Bora.” SSM has only revealed that these systems are needed by the Turkish Land Forces.

Security analysts say Turkey would eventually aim to produce ground-to-ground missiles with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers to work in conjunction with its nuclear aspirations.

Some of the foreign capitals falling within that range if a missile is fired from Turkey include Damascus, Baghdad, Tehran, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Belgrade, Athens, Kiev and Budapest.

“If Turkey makes verifiable progress in its ‘offensive’ [ground-to-ground] long-range missile system, this will inevitably have repercussions in the region. Some of the countries that feel politically and militarily threatened by Turkey would seek ways to develop or buy systems that would intercept the Turkish system. Secondly, they may seek ways to develop or buy their own offensive systems, sparking a kind of missile race within this very turbulent region,” a security analyst said.