New close-in defense system ‘crazy’: MKE head

Yasin Akdere, the head of the Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE), has described their new close-in air defense system as "crazy," as the system has the ability to provide the most effective air defense against missiles and other weapon systems.

The MKE, affiliated with the Defense Ministry, stands out with the weapons and systems it has recently produced. Developing systems, such as the National Sea Cannon, Yavuz Howitzer and KN-12 Sniper Rifle, have now come to an end in the close air defense system produced by only a few countries in the world.

The project is in the serial production phase, Akdere told the daily Hürriyet.

Noting that it is planned to enter the Turkish army's inventory at the end of this year, Akdere said, "The close-in air defense system is crazy. It is a system that will provide the most effective air defense against air-to-surface missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), airplanes and helicopters, including guided missiles both on the ship platform and on the land platform."

It has been developed entirely with domestic and national means, including its software, he informed.

"Shooting tests are now complete. We will make a decision about mass production and proceed quickly. There is also serious demand from abroad," he added.

The system, which can rotate 360 ​​degrees on its axis and can fire 6,000 shots per minute from six rotating barrels, has an effective range of 2,000 meters for air targets and 2,500 meters for land targets.

It has an electro-optical sensor, thermal camera, day vision camera and laser rangefinder.

Stating that they acted with the "do what has not been done" instruction given by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Akdere said, "Our starting point is to do...

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