New missile system for Turkish tanks in Afrin ready for use


Developed by Turkish defense company Aselsan and the country's top scientific body, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), a defense system to protect Turkish tanks in Afrin is ready to be used, prominent defense official announced on Sunday.

Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry İsmail Demir said on his Twitter account that the system, which is named Akkor Pulat, has successfully completed tests and will be integrated to Turkish tanks in Afrin soon.

"The system will be the first active protection system to be used on battleground," Demir said.

Akkor Pulat is supposed to intercept close-range anti-tank weapons and long-range guided anti-tank missiles by detecting them with high-technology radars at a definite distance.

This way, it provides 360 degrees of protection for tanks on the battleground.

Last week, Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said that around 91 percent of the weapons the Turkish forces are using in Operation Olive Branch were domestically-produced.