ANKARA, ($1=14.79 Turkish Liras) — Roketsan continues to work on the National Vertical Launch System [VLS] called Mildas and the air defense missiles that will be used in it. Tests of the Turkish VLS will begin this year.

Following the US Mk41 VLS embargo on the TCG Istanbul frigate [F-515], Roketsan has decided to speed up the Mildas project, which is expected to be launched in 2027 together with the TF-2000 air defense system for Turkish Navy warships.

Roketsan General Manager Murat Ikinci made important statements about the Mildas project to Anil Shahin, Editor-in-Chief of SavunmaSanayiST.com. According to the information received, Mildas will have a variety of configurations and the ultimate goal is to integrate the functional Quad-Pack with the ability to launch multiple cruise missiles.

“The Siper Blok-I will be commissioned in 2023. We will use Hisar-RF together with the Mildas National Vertical Launch System at TCG Istanbul. The Mildas project will go through stages. We will continue our efforts to provide both cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles, as well as Quad-Pack capabilities in advanced configurations,” Ikinci said.

Mildas will be directly integrated into TCG Istanbul [F-515] following ground tests to be carried out in the second half of this year. Marine tests will be carried out at TCG Istanbul, following the integration activities to be completed in 2023.

Once this system is integrated into the frigate, the Turkish Ministry of Defense will try to integrate other missiles in Mildas. “We are talking about all missiles developed with national funds,” Ikinci added

What is a Quad-Pack?

For those who don’t know, let’s briefly explain the Quad-Pack as follows. The Istif class frigates [TCG Istanbul] will have a 16-cell vertical launch system. If the Quad-Pack functional package is integrated into the vertical launch system, each cell can be equipped with 4 air defense missiles.

That way, instead of 16 readies to fire, you have 64 air defense missiles. Of course, the size of the air defense missile used is also very important. The Turkish Navy already has similar capabilities in the Barbados and Gabya frigates thanks to the Mk-41 VLS + ESSM combination.