ATMACA Cruise Missile: Range, Speed and the KTJ-3200 Indigenous Engine

ATMACA is Türkiye’s first indigenous anti-ship cruise missile — a sea-skimming, subsonic, fire-and-forget weapon that has eliminated the Turkish Navy’s long-standing dependence on Western AShMs. With Indonesia signed as its first export customer and the KTJ-3200 indigenous turbojet now in production, ATMACA is no longer just a technology demonstrator. Here is the 2026 specification, performance and export reference.

What ATMACA Is and Why It Matters

ATMACA — Turkish for “Sparrowhawk” — is a subsonic, sea-skimming, anti-ship cruise missile designed and manufactured by Roketsan. The missile was developed to replace the U.S. Harpoon in Turkish Naval Forces service, ending a multi-decade dependence on a single foreign supplier for the navy’s most important anti-surface weapon. ATMACA is launched from Turkish-designed Ada-class corvettes and Istanbul-class frigates, and a coastal-defence variant (Kara ATMACA) has been deployed to land-based units along Türkiye’s Aegean and Mediterranean coasts.

Technical Specifications

ATMACA is purpose-built for the standard NATO AShM mission profile: long stand-off launch from a frigate or coastal battery, low-altitude sea-skimming cruise, and terminal homing with active radar in the last few kilometres against a manoeuvring ship target.

How ATMACA Reaches Its Target

A typical ATMACA engagement begins with the launch ship or coastal battery uploading mid-course waypoints and a target area into the missile. After a rocket-boosted launch, the missile transitions to cruise on its KTJ-3200 turbojet and descends to its sea-skimming altitude of 3 to 5 metres — low enough that the rounded Earth conceals it from a ship’s radar horizon for most of its flight. In the terminal phase, ATMACA’s active radar seeker switches on, locks onto the assigned target and conducts a final approach with limited evasive manoeuvring.

The sea-skimming profile is the missile’s primary survivability feature. With only 3 to 5 metres of altitude, an enemy ship has — depending on radar horizon and electronic warfare conditions — roughly 15 to 30 seconds of detection time before impact. That window is short enough to defeat most close-in weapon systems if ATMACA arrives in coordinated salvos.

The KTJ-3200: A Strategic Engine Independence

For most of ATMACA’s development, the missile flew with a foreign-sourced turbojet engine — a significant strategic constraint, since cruise-missile engines are tightly controlled under non-proliferation regimes. In 2025, Roketsan announced a successful test firing of ATMACA powered entirely by the KTJ-3200, a domestic turbojet developed by the Kale Group’s R&D arm. The KTJ-3200 closes ATMACA’s last major foreign-content gap and frees the missile for unrestricted export — a major commercial step.

Kara ATMACA: The Coastal Defence Variant

Kara ATMACA (Land ATMACA) is a coastal-defence variant launched from a wheeled transporter-erector-launcher. It is intended to give the Turkish Land Forces a long-reach anti-ship capability along the country’s Aegean and Black Sea coasts and to complement the naval ATMACA in the same target picture. The same missile body and engine are used; the change is in the ground launch system and the command-and-control link to the Turkish Navy’s maritime air picture.

Export: Indonesia and the Wider Market

Roketsan signed an export contract for ATMACA with Indonesia in 2025 — making Indonesia the first foreign operator of the missile. Public reporting puts the per-missile export price above US $1.5 million, in line with comparable Western AShMs. With the KTJ-3200 in production and the Indonesia reference order on the books, ATMACA is positioned to compete in the multi-billion-dollar global anti-ship-missile market against Boeing’s Harpoon, MBDA’s Exocet, and Saab’s RBS-15.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ATMACA’s range?

Officially announced at 220+ km, with reported test extensions to approximately 300 km.

How fast does ATMACA fly?

High subsonic, around Mach 0.85 (approximately 1,050 km/h).

What engine does ATMACA use?

The KTJ-3200 turbojet, developed by the Kale Group — a fully domestic Turkish engine that replaced the previous foreign-sourced powerplant.

Which navy operates ATMACA?

The Turkish Naval Forces operate ATMACA from Ada-class corvettes and Istanbul-class frigates. The first export customer is Indonesia.

What’s the difference between ATMACA and Kara ATMACA?

ATMACA is the ship-launched anti-ship missile. Kara ATMACA is the coastal-defence variant, launched from a wheeled vehicle on land.

Conclusion

ATMACA has moved from a programme aimed at replacing Harpoon to a fully indigenous, export-ready cruise missile with an active customer base. The KTJ-3200 milestone is the structural inflection point: ATMACA can now be exported without third-party licensing constraints, and Indonesia’s order signals the start of what is likely to become a much broader export book through the rest of the decade.

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Sources

ATMACA füzesi özellikleri ve menzili — Gazete Birlik — https://www.gazetebirlik.com/teknoloji/atmaca-fuzesi-fiyati-ne-kadar-menzili-ve-ozellikleri-neler-turkiyenin-mill-gemisavar-fuzesi-atmaca/935237

ATMACA Gemisavar Füzesi — Kriter Dergi — https://kriterdergi.com/siyaset/atmaca-gemisavar-fuzesi

KARA ATMACA Karadan Karaya Seyir Füzesi — Roketsan — https://www.roketsan.com.tr/tr/urunler/kara-atmaca-karadan-karaya-seyir-fuzesi

Milli füze ATMACA milli motor KTJ-3200 ile vurdu — Savunma Sanayi ST — https://www.savunmasanayist.com/milli-fuze-atmaca-milli-motor-ktj-3200-ile-vurdu/

Atmaca (füze) — Vikipedi — https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmaca_(f%C3%BCze)

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