The GÖKDENİZ CIWS System was designed and manufactured by the cooperation between TÜBİTAK - SAGE and MKEK (Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation) and Aselsan was the Main Contractor of the project. GÖKDENİZ CIWS System was equipped with Airburst Munition (ParM/ATOM) programmed with ‘35mm Mod 95 Airburst Munition’ code by MKEK. The system will enable the most effective air defence against anti-ship guided missiles, Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV), Aircrafts and Helicopters. It will be efficient against close asymmetrical surface naval threats as well. GÖKDENİZ will be able to conduct target acquisition, identification, tracking and destruction fully autonomously. The 3-Dimensional Search Radar, Fire Control Radar and E/O sensors within the system will enable the efficient utilization of GÖKDENİZ at night and under adverse weather conditions. The system could be operated under the control of an operator and
it is also able to fulfil its tasks fully automatically, without requiring the intervention of an operator. With the help of the Automatic Linkless Ammunition Feed Mechanism within the system, munition in two different types could be fed to the system and switching between munition types is possible. GÖKDENİZ demonstrated its capabilities at the ballistic tests conducted in May 2018 with the support of the SSB and the TNFC; a high-speed target aircraft simulating a guided missile attack was fired and crashed during this test.
Utilizing the matured sub-systems of the KORKUT Self Propelled Air Defence Gun System, the serial production deliveries to Turkish Land Forces of which started in March 2019 (3 Weapon System Vehicles and 1 Command Control Vehicle), GÖKDENİZ was adopted to sea conditions during the development process and was brought to a size capable of being installed within the I Class Frigates. Different from KORKUT-D, the barrel of the gun is stabilized at the back of the turret and the swept area was narrowed. The same weapon and ammunition (
MKEK/ÇANSAŞ product 35mm KDC-02 automatic gun) is being used by KORKUT and GÖKDENİZ. A total of 200 ammunitions could be carried in the the ammunition boxes at the right and left sides of the front of the GÖKDENİZ CIWS turret. According to the information we received, on account of the smart ammunition utilization, GÖKDENİZ could be effective at lower ammunition different from the other CIWS systems such as the rapid shot Phalanx and Goalkeeper CIWS. It has been mentioned that 200 missiles are sufficient for an average of 5-6 engagements including the supersonic anti-ship guided missile types. In case the ammunition in the boxes runs out, the ammunition feed is actualized simultaneously by two personnel from the lids at the sides. The ammunition could be fed to the turret again in less than a total of 10 minutes in the form of ammunition clips of five pieces.
The indigenous electrical servo systems manufactured by Aselsan are being utilized in GÖKDENİZ. The top part is fully independent from the turret and it is stabilized. The turret is already stabilized. The Automatic Linkless Ammunition Feed System is similar with the one in the KORKUT System. In fact, it is the same sub-system but while KORKUT features a feeder mechanism under the armor without getting out of the vehicle, in GÖKDENİZ the missile feeder mechanism is designed in a way to feed over the turret from the top. The reason behind this is based on the requirement for not allowing penetration to the deck of the ship as not all ships have under-decks available for penetration. For example, the under-deck of the I Class Frigate does not allow penetration.
As all the sub-systems are placed within the turret and since power-related units are located under the turret, GÖKDENİZ CIWS could be easily installed to a surface platform as it also does not require any penetration to the under-body/under-deck. Expressed that it could be installed over the ship and availed directly to utilization, GÖKDENİZ CIWS is capable of operating fully autonomously according to the selected configuration with the MAR-D Search Radar over it as well. MAR-D is the same with the land version, yet there is an increase in the angles of its coverage area. After MAR-D accomplishes its target acquisition, the system tracks the anti-ship guided missiles targeting the ship. Then it utilizes the E/O camera and radar in a hybrid form, heads toward the target and processes the shooting decision. According to the information we gathered, GÖKDENİZ CIWS is integrated to ADVENT and GENESIS CMS, too. One of the two operator consoles on the system is designed in the structure of a remote console integrated to the CMS, and the other is designed in order to be located at the selected region as the own weapon console of GÖKDENİZ. The full control of the system could be accomplished over both consoles.
The data collected by the search radar over GÖKDENİZ could be utilized also for the other weapons over the ship. It is possible to transfer these data to the CMS. The tracking radar could also be used in order to direct another weapon. The system could receive engagement via other radars over the ship with the data provided by the CMS and head towards the target. It could fire the target displayed by the other E/O sensors over the ship. This capability constitutes the most critical feature of GÖKDENİZ compared with other CIWS systems. Moreover, GÖKDENİZ is capable of executing surface naval threat engagement via the radar and E/O radar both over the ship and over itself. In fact, the main reason behind the system’s being named as GÖKDENİZ (SKYSEA) is its capability of engagement to targets in the sky and at sea.
Even though such capability does not exist in our country yet, the utilization of a single barrel, revolver type rotary feeder weapon system as the one used in the Millennium CIWS manufactured by Rheinmetall is possible in the GÖKDENİZ System. In this case, as the single barrel will cover less space, the volume of the turret will be decreased to a certain extent and the weight of the system will be reduced. Although, the presently utilized double barrel KDC-02 automatic gun has certain advantages. The twin gun is critical in terms of redundant operations, the firing continues with the single barrel when the gun is stuck. Another advantage is that the measures should be adopted, and active sensors should be used for the cooling of the drum in the rotary drum weapon systems referred as the revolver type, and this complicates the weapon in terms of operation and maintenance. Though the revolver type is a higher-level weapon as they have a relatively new design and new technology, as the single barrel is excessively heated when fired rapidly, a water-cooling system is required for the barrel. Therefore, from a technological perspective, though it has an older design compared with the single barrel, the revolver type rotary feeder weapon in the Millennium CIWS, the KDC-02 automatic guns proved themselves and they have quite significant advantages in terms of both maintenance echelon and logistics.
Within the scope of the Capability Demonstration activity, GÖKDENİZ CIWS was integrated to the TNFC training ship TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa (A-577) in 2018. The depression angle of -5 was sufficient as it was an on-board configuration at the KORKUT turret. But when it was installed over a ship, it was observed that the -5 degrees was not convenient for compensating the swaying of the ship. Therefore, the turret was placed over the ship in an inclined position. In line with the information we gathered, this layout configuration was only used for the tests over the TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa training ship and no such demand is in question for the time being. In its current form, the GÖKDENİZ CIWS turret is capable of descending and ascending to -15 and +85 degrees. At the ballistic tests carried out on May 4, 2018, two types of shooting - slow and fast targets - yet 3 types of targets were used. Two types of slow targets were shot and within this scope a target similar to the Harpoon Surface to Surface Guided Missile was shot as well. Over 6 drones were shot down during the shooting of the slow targets. The rapid target conducting sea-skimming simulation and approaching the ship under 50 feet (15,24m) with high speed was shot twice (the Banshee Jet 80 target aircraft manufactured by Qinetiq, with two turbojet engines with 40kg propulsion power over it and capable of executing attack scenarios at an altitude of 5m).
According to the latest information we received, GÖKDENİZ is designed in a way to be effective against kamikaze drones conducting swarm attacks and supersonic anti-ship guided missiles similar to BRAHMOS. The design of the system is executed to fully enable efficiency against supersonic targets as well and both the target acquisition and tracking ranges of GÖKDENİZ is at the level that allows acquisition, tracking and shooting of the targets at the speed of Mach 3 and over. Analyses and simulations regarding this issue were conducted and striking probabilities were estimated. No problems occurred related to this subject. In line with the information we gathered, execution of additional ballistic tests in the near future with GÖKDENİZ CIWS is planned and also conducting ballistic tests against supersonic targets (if provided) is aimed.
The total weight of the Close-In Weapon System for GÖKDENİZ Naval Platforms is expected to be around 8,5 tons including the ammunition and two operator consoles. We learned that Aselsan is currently conducting negotiations on the delivery of GÖKDENİZ for both I Class Frigates and the DİMDEG Fleet Replenishment Ship. By the way, the very first export of GÖKDENİZ was made to one of the Turkic Republics countries. According to the information we received, GÖKDENİZ will be utilized in a corvette type platform of the related country. 80% of GÖKDENİZ is presently composed of indigenous parts, the remaining 20% is not composed of critical foreign parts and they could be provided through multiple sources. As all the critical parts of GÖKDENİZ is fully indigenous, no export-related problems are expected.
https://www.defenceturkey.com/tr/ic...us-solutions-make-their-debut-at-idef-19-3555
Land based variant of GökDeniz called Korkut proved effectivenes with 35mm ATOM munitions in Land Forces.
