The infographic states that air defence missiles can be launched from the capsule in addition to anti-ship missiles. The self-defence of submarines against ASW helicopters has been brought up in the past two decades with developments like the fibre-optic/IIR-guided IDAS missile.
The idea is to have a missile that can be controlled through a fibre-optic cable from the launch capsule communicating with the submarine to acquire low-flying aircraft.
The submarine can guide the missile with its periscope or send commands to the missile when it detects sonar emissions from a helicopter. In addition to IDAS being the only missile to be developed for submarine-based air defence, the IDAS programme being run under a consortium that includes ROKETSAN might give some hints on the characteristics of the Hisar Derin missile.
To obtain these capabilities, “a lot of” underwater launch tests will be necessary, especially when this is a new field for Turkiye. To ease up this process, TÜBİTAK SAGE has developed the underwater launch testbed DATA which can be used in different depths.
While it will be a challenge for the industry to develop submarine-based missiles, payoff in the form of stand-off attack capability against enemy ships and land targets will be a strategic advantage that only a few countries possess.