IDEF 2025: Turkish Navy gains stealth attack capability with new Roketsan Akata submarine-launched cruise missile.

During the 17th edition of the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF 2025) held in Istanbul, Türkiye officially introduced the new Akata submarine-launched cruise missile, which was created by Roketsan. The Akata is an encapsulated version of the Atmaca anti-ship missile, which is already in service with the Turkish Navy. It was developed specifically to provide Türkiye with the capacity to launch guided cruise missiles from beneath the sea, a capability possessed by only a limited number of countries. The system uses a sealed capsule to allow submerged launch from 533 mm torpedo tubes at depths between 15 and 60 meters. After emerging from the water, the capsule separates and the missile continues flight toward its target using a solid-fuel booster and turbojet propulsion.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

The encapsulation of the Atmaca will offer Turkish submarines the ability to strike moving or fixed targets without surfacing, thereby improving survivability and increasing the element of surprise in engagements. (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The missile is based on the Atmaca platform, which was originally developed to replace the U.S.-built Harpoon missile in the Turkish Navy. The encapsulated Akata variant retains the Atmaca’s features, including its range of over 250 kilometers and a 220 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead designed for anti-ship and land-attack roles. The Akata missile measures 7 meters in length, weighs 1,200 kg, and has a 533 mm diameter, allowing compatibility with standard submarine launch systems. Its guidance system integrates inertial navigation, global positioning, a barometric and radar altimeter, and an active radar seeker. It can perform data link-based target updates, reattack, and mission abort, and is designed to strike both moving surface targets and fixed coastal or land-based targets.

The missile was successfully test-fired for the first time on March 12, 2025, from the Turkish Navy’s Preveze-class submarine TCG Preveze (S-353). This test confirmed the system’s launch and flight performance under submerged conditions. Footage of the test showed the Akata emerging from a torpedo tube, reaching the surface, separating from its capsule, and transitioning to cruise flight. The test was attended by the president of the Defence Industry Agency, Haluk Görgün, Turkish Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, and Roketsan CEO Murat İkinci. The missile had previously been referred to as "Encapsulated Atmaca" before being officially named Akata. According to statements at the event, this capability is expected to contribute to the Turkish Navy’s ability to conduct independent maritime operations as part of Türkiye’s “Blue Homeland” maritime security strategy.

The Akata was designed to offer strategic and tactical flexibility by enabling cruise missile attacks from submerged submarines. Its capsule-based launch concept aims to reduce detection risk during launch and increase the survivability of submarines by avoiding the need to surface. The Akata maintains a low radar cross-section and performs sea-skimming flight profiles, which, combined with its warhead type and precision guidance, increase its ability to penetrate defenses and strike with accuracy. The missile uses a solid-fuel rocket booster for initial acceleration and transitions to a turbojet engine in the cruise phase. The encapsulated format adds a new launch mode to the Atmaca family, which already includes ship-launched, coastal battery-launched, and land vehicle-launched versions.

The Atmaca’s development began in 2009, and the missile entered serial production in 2018 after multiple land- and ship-based tests. The missile was designed to be compatible with multiple Turkish Navy platforms, including the Ada-class corvettes, Istanbul-class and G-class frigates, and Hisar-class offshore patrol vessels. It has also been integrated into the Barbaros Coastal Defense System. The Atmaca family includes a land-based variant, Kara Atmaca, which has demonstrated ranges exceeding 400 km and features additional seeker options such as imaging infrared. Future plans include vertical launch system integration and compatibility with the indigenous MILDEN-class submarines currently under development.

In addition to the Akata, Roketsan presented five other new systems at IDEF 2025: the Tayfun Block-4 hypersonic ballistic missile, the Gökbora ramjet-powered beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, the Eren high-speed loitering munition, the 300 ER air-launched ballistic missile, and the Şimşek-2 satellite launch vehicle. The Tayfun Block-4 was described as Türkiye’s longest-range ballistic missile with a range nearing 1,000 kilometers and a weight of 7.2 tons. The Gökbora is intended for internal bay launch from next-generation fighter platforms such as the TF-X and Kızılelma. The Eren is designed for anti-personnel and vehicle attacks from multiple platforms and offers extended loiter time and range above 100 kilometers. The 300 ER can be launched from jet aircraft and UAVs with an effective range of over 500 kilometers. The Şimşek-2 is capable of carrying a 1.5-ton satellite payload to sun-synchronous orbit and follows the Şimşek-1 vehicle, which is scheduled for its first test in 2027.

The Akata system will eventually replace the U.S.-made UGM-84 Sub-Harpoon missiles in the Turkish Navy inventory. As of March 2025, Roketsan confirmed that the Akata had completed design and testing phases and that it will form part of Türkiye’s broader effort to reduce foreign dependence in strategic weapons. The missile has been confirmed to operate from standard torpedo tubes and will support future systems such as vertical submarine launch modules. It complements the Atmaca’s earlier platform integrations and adds new operational capacity to Turkish submarines. The missile also shares production infrastructure with other Roketsan cruise missile systems and may be considered for export depending on platform compatibility with foreign navies.

Türkiye’s acquisition of indigenous submarine-launched cruise missile capability was previously announced in 2021, and a prototype capsule was first exhibited during the Piri Reis submarine handover ceremony. The Akata follows a similar concept to the UGM-84 Harpoon, with the missile launching from its capsule after surfacing. Roketsan officials emphasized that the system increases strike options for submarines beyond torpedoes, allowing long-range engagements against both maritime and land targets. Defense sources have noted that encapsulated cruise missiles are less likely to be detected than torpedoes or surfaced missiles and that the Akata’s configuration makes interception more difficult. The test from the TCG Preveze showed this capacity in a real deployment scenario, marking a milestone in Türkiye’s strategic missile deployment capabilities.

Compared to other submarine-launched anti-ship cruise missiles, the Akata's range of over 250 kilometers aligns it with the UGM-84 Sub-Harpoon Block II, which reaches approximately 280 kilometers, and slightly below the Russian 3M-54E1 Kalibr, which exceeds 300 kilometers in its export configuration. The Akata’s 220 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead is comparable in weight to the Harpoon’s 221 kg and the Exocet SM39’s 165 kg, though smaller than the Kalibr’s 400 kg variant. Its sea-skimming flight profile and active radar seeker mirror the guidance profiles found in the Swedish RBS15SF-3 and the French Exocet SM39, both designed for terminal-phase survivability. The Akata's compatibility with standard 533 mm torpedo tubes, without requiring vertical launch systems, places it operationally close to the SM39, which is also launched via encapsulated torpedo tube. However, the Atmaca-derived datalink capability providing mid-course updates and reattack potential gives the Akata a level of flexibility not present in many comparable export systems. While it does not match the extended range of newer long-range cruise missiles such as the Naval Strike Missile in its submarine-launched concept (which is still under development), the Akata provides Türkiye with a competitive, domestically produced solution within the current generation of submarine-launched anti-ship weapons.