Turkey sees nascent ‘Steel Dome’ as deterrent, export money maker

ANKARA — Turkish defense-electronics company Aselsan has detailed its integrated air-defense suite “Steel Dome,” describing it as a multi-layered, multi-domain system that combines kinetic and non-kinetic effectors with advanced decision-support algorithms.

The company presented the concept during an international press day held at its Gölbaşı facility in Ankara.

Aselsan positions Steel Dome as a response to evolving threat environments that include small drones, maneuverable ballistic trajectories and increasingly diverse sensor networks. The concept emphasizes a “smart layers” methodology that integrates soft-kill techniques, electronic jamming, directed energy and kinetic measures to engage targets according to operational requirements.

At the core of Steel Dome is a command-and-control layer built around Aselsan’s HAKİM airspace management system, which integrates radars, communication systems, intelligence feeds. The software uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to produce a single, fused air picture for engagement decisions.

HAKİM was developed in accordance with NATO command-and-control standards. It is intended to support the systems currently used by the Turkish Air Force.

Developer Aselsan is part of an alliance effort to design components for a ground-based air defense system on a modular basis. Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Thales, and Raytheon are also part of that project.

The Steel Dome Project was approved at the Defence Industry Executive Committee (SSİK) meeting held on Aug. 6, 2024. Almost 50 elements of the system entered the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces on Aug. 27, 2025, with a total value exceeding $460 million.

An additional procurement agreement for air-defense systems was signed between Aselsan and the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB), valued at €1.65 billion ($1.92 billion). Deliveries are scheduled between 2027 and 2031.