Turkey's SOM-J Missile Successfully Conducts Precision Strike Test
The SOM-J cruise missile, developed by TÃœBÄ°TAK SAGE with Roketsan as its industrial partner, successfully conducted a live-fire seaskimming test against a surface target on October 13, 2025. This test, shown in released footage and confirmed by a government post, demonstrated the country's mature guidance, data link, and seeker capabilities, expanding Turkey's long-range maritime strike options without the constraints of foreign launches.
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On October 13, 2025, Turkey released new test footage confirming that the SOM-J cruise missile had successfully conducted a live-fire seaskimming test at sea. Developed by TÃœBÄ°TAK SAGE with Roketsan as its industrial partner responsible for production and mission system integration, the weapon demonstrated ultra-low-altitude seaskimming, post-launch control, and precision terminal strike capabilities against surface targets. This series of tests underscores how indigenous guidance, data link, and seeker technologies have matured to a level operationally relevant for maritime strikes from legacy fighter aircraft. This is significant because it can shorten enemy reaction times at sea while providing the Turkish Air Force with a self-defense option that is not dependent on foreign release approvals or supply chains.
The SOM-J is a member of the broader SOM family, designed to be carried by frontline aircraft and unmanned platforms while maintaining a warhead sized to disable medium-tonnage surface combatants. It combines a 140 kg high-explosive semi-armor-piercing/blast fragmentation warhead with a modular airframe (3.9 m long, ~540 kg launch mass) and a sensor suite designed for maritime littoral use: inertial navigation supported by anti-jamming GPS, terrain-referenced navigation, an infrared-imaging terminal seeker with automatic target acquisition, and a network-based data link supporting mission updates and cooperation. This architecture allows the SOM-J to fly at very low altitudes, following terrain profiles to minimize radar exposure while maintaining the seeker lock necessary for precision terminal effects.
The program's trajectory reflects more than a decade of iterative design and progressive integration. Derived from the SOM family of land-attack missiles, engineers rebalanced range, mass, and control to produce a maritime-optimized variant that meets the transport limitations of fast jets. Missile transport and separation tests were followed by guided firings earlier this year, and recent video shows the missile separating from an F-16 before executing a controlled descent to near-sea level, a sustained low-altitude transit, and an agile terminal run, behavior that demonstrates separation dynamics and in-flight control logic working together in a congested maritime environment. The partnership between TÃœBÄ°TAK SAGE (development) and Roketsan (industrialization and mission systems integration) has been key in moving the design from laboratory validation to operationally representative firings, accelerating the path to squadron-level tactics and training.
Compared to international competitors, the SOM-J deliberately strikes a middle ground: offering greater destructive effect and survivability than very small, saturation-oriented munitions, while maintaining a lighter weight and simpler platform integration than the largest long-range anti-ship missiles. These advantages, a larger warhead, and a modern seeker/data link at a range of approximately 200 km, along with a design optimized for F-16 and UCAV transport, support flexible sorties, sovereignty support, and rapid tactical adaptation in congested coastal areas. Practically, the SOM-J's combination of surface survivability, mid-course update capability, and precise terminal homing yields a weapon suitable for destroying frigate-class sensors and mission systems without burdening the logistics and operations of the heaviest long-range systems, a balance that aligns with Turkey's operational needs and industrial strategy.
Strategically, each validated test strengthens Turkey's control over vital maritime corridors in the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean, and Black Seas by combining long-range, air-launched strikes with a national ISR and targeting network. Sea-skimming flights and post-launch control reduce the launch aircraft's exposure to ship-based air defenses, enabling multi-axis, precise tactics from a combined package of fighter aircraft and unmanned systems. Industrially, the Roketsan–TÃœBÄ°TAK SAGE partnership strengthens sovereign design authority over seekers, guidance software, and fuzing, capabilities that flow into other missile families and strengthen supply security during crises. Going forward, the same architecture can be adapted for advanced platforms and evolving concepts of operations, from drone cooperation to maritime interdiction within contested air defense umbrellas.
Today's live footage offers more than just highlight reels; it is concrete evidence that the domestically developed F-16 maritime attack missile can combine sea-skimming endurance, in-flight control, and terminal precision in a single package. For Türkiye, this provides a credible and measurable tool to keep surface targets at risk in its surrounding waters, while simultaneously strengthening its industrial autonomy in technologies critical to maritime deterrence. (Teoman S. Nicanci)
