TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa returns from live fire test of Korkut D.
The unmanned gun turret and the 3D radar mount occupy the place, where once the 100mm gun turret was.
Turkish Navy and Aselsan have conducted live firing tests of the Korkut D gun system on board of TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa. The trials are believed to be performed during the first week of May.
Korkut is a Self Propelled Air Defense Gun System developed by Aselsan.
The initial customer for this system is the Turkish Land Forces. A typical system has one command vehicle and 3 gun vehicles. The command vehicles carry a 3D target acquisition and tracking radar, IFF system, and necessary to command and control systems. The gun vehicles carry an unmanned turret with 2 x 35mm guns, a fire control radar and electro/optical sensors.
The navalized system has a stabilized, unmanned gun turret and a mount for 3D target acquisition and tracking radar.
The Korkut D system made headlines in December 2016 when a Turkish boat carrying it for initial tests, run ashore on the Greek islands Kos island due to bad weather.
This time the test platform was provided by Turkish Navy. TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa is a very versatile ship. She was built for Germany Navy by Schlichting-Werft in Travemünde as a tender for fast attack boats. In Turkish service, she is used as a flagship of small ship formations, training ship for cadets and in a war as an auxiliary minelayer.
Prior to the tests, the original 100mm gun mount in X position on her board was removed, freeing space for the Korkut D gun turret and radar mount.
The position of the turret on board of TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa provides extra elevation angle to engage low flying targets and possibly to engage close small surface targets. The gun turret seems to be not penetrating the deck. This suggests that this is not a permanent installation and the original 100mm gun may return to claim its place on the ship.
turkishnavy.net