Fazıl Hızal, General Manager of Urban Defense, told defensehere.com about the last stage reached in the electromagnetic railgun Şahi 209 Block-2.
Stating that the test processes of Şahi 209 Block-2 continue, albeit slowly due to the coronavirus, Hızal said:
"In September 2019, another test of Şahi 209 was carried out with the participation of the Ministry of National Defense, General Staff, Navy, Land Forces and Air Force, where they were spectators. This demonstration was very successful, and we demonstrated the functionality and operational accuracy of the system and its technological development with firing at a certain power at a certain distance.
The work we have done since then, the system's operational features, the verification of criteria such as performance. Of course, for this, we continue to work in contact with the Armed Forces, relevant units and institutions.
Within the framework of these studies, we are at a stage that we call the development of electromagnetic railgun ammunition, defining its properties and verifying this with field tests. At this point, our work continues with the development of the Block-2 version of the Şahi 209 Electromagnetic Railgun System, as well as the development of its ammunition.
Of course, there is more than one study here. The ammunition continues in the form of a description, definition and technical verification of the fuze, aerodynamic, composite structure and explosive or armor-piercing properties. First, after production, design, analysis and modeling, verifications are made in the form of tests in the field.
In the development of the Şahi 209 Block-2 Weapon System, we continue to work on increasing the power supply and power capacity, transitioning to a new weapon platform and vehicle integration, and accordingly defining and developing fire control systems.
Due to the pandemic, we have experienced this year, our work and field tests were subject to certain restrictions. Therefore, the planned and expected field tests and verifications, perhaps the work to be done on a naval platform, inevitably extended for a certain period of time. We are currently in the test infrastructure where we conduct the tests of Şahi 209 Block-2. In this test infrastructure, we verify most of the mentioned tests in terms of technique and capacity. Therefore, we hope that we will carry out joint tests with the Armed Forces, which we planned to do this year, within the next year. Because we have almost completed our preparations regarding this. These will primarily be distance and impact shots to be made on land, and demonstration of high-efficiency ammunition.
If we succeeded later, we would continue these tests and further development on a naval platform.
