MKE A.Ş. General Manager Keleş came out in front of cameras for the first time since his appointment in February 2023 and gave information about both the company’s works and the supplier meeting.
Saying that they aim to meet with sub-contractors that MKE does not work with but other companies in the sector do, Keleş explained that they aim for a sustainable and high-quality production process. Keleş also announced the products they will exhibit at IDEF and answered the press’ questions.
Keleş first made statements about the offensive MALAMAN Bottom ( Also ground) Mine Project, which has been continuing as a development project since 2011. Keleş stated that MALAMAN, in the form of an Mk-84 utility bomb, will be exhibited for the first time at IDEF’23.
Air platforms such as the F-16 fighter jet, Akıncı, and Aksungur UCAVs, which can carry MK-84 ammunition weighing approximately 2000 lb, will also be able to launch MALAMAN.
The ground sea mine is developed in the form of the Mk-84 Utility bomb; It can be launched from a distance of 70 km to the desired point with precision guidance kits such as KGK, HGK and LGK.
The MALAMAN Project was signed in December 2011 to meet the needs of the Turkish Navy’s bottom mines and make Turkish territorial waters safer.
The mine lies on the seafloor. It can classify ships and submarines passing over with the help of three different sensors: magnetic, acoustic and pressure. While the mine will be safe for friendly units, it will be ready to trigger against enemy units.
(Credit: Royal Australian Navy)
Due to the working architecture of such systems, the data received from all sensor units are blended into a single data, then this data is compared with the data in the memory unit, and if there is no match, the mine will discharge pressurised CO2 gas, which acts as propulsion + rudder. It approaches the target. Although it can operate in deep waters, it will also have the ability to operate in partially shallow waters such as the Aegean and the Black Sea.
TÜBİTAK-SAGE General Manager Gürcan Okumuş stated in an interview that system-level verifications would be completed in 2023, and the prototype would be delivered to the Naval Forces.
Explaining that MKE realised an export of approximately 34 million dollars in 2022, Keleş stated that MKE made 400 million dollars worth of sales from stock in the first six months of 2023. For this export to be sustainable and technology-intensive and joint productions to be supported for value-added products, Keleş said that establishing production lines in three countries continues, and negotiations with eight countries are not finalised. Keleş, upon a question, said, “The installation of a production line in Ukraine is not a word”. Responding to questions about the Fırtına howitzer demanded by Ukraine, Keleş said, “We did not have a meeting with Ukraine for the Fırtına howitzer. Due to the policy of neutrality, direct sales to Ukraine are out of the question. MKE did not make any exports to Ukraine.
After the meeting, Keleş went to this factory to deal with the accident at the MKE hive factory. It was learned that three people were injured due to an accident in the R&D laboratory of the hive factory.
