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Exclusive: Aselsan's Steel Dome Solving European Air Defense With NATO Interoperable Integration.
Aselsan introduced its Steel Dome air and missile defense system at a press event in Ankara on October 7, 2025. Designed for NATO interoperability, the system seeks to unify Europe’s fragmented air-defense assets into a single, coordinated network.
On October 7, 2025, at its Gölbaşı headquarters near Ankara, Aselsan opened its doors to international media for an exclusive press day showcasing the company’s next-generation Steel Dome air and missile defense architecture. The event featured high-level briefings, live demonstrations, and a guided tour of core integration and testing facilities, attended by Aselsan President and CEO Mr. Ahmet Akyol. Framed as a NATO-interoperable, network-centric solution, Steel Dome is designed to close Europe’s air-defense gaps, shifting from fragmented, point-based defenses to a seamless detect–decide–intercept continuum linking military and civil-safety operators across allied networks.
Aselsan’s Steel Dome is presented as a NATO-ready, network-centric shield designed to knit together military, security, and selected civilian elements. Its promise rests on interoperability, layered defense, and disciplined decision-making that aligns the cost and capability of each effector with the target at hand. In a European security context increasingly shaped by drones, electronic warfare, and complex airspace, the approach outlined in Ankara reflects an ambition to move beyond stand-alone systems toward a coordinated, alliance-compatible architecture focused on deterrence, resilience, and practical affordability.
(Picture source: ASELSAN)
Within Aselsan’s Integrated Defense Systems technologies, the company said its portfolio is organized across five mission categories: air and missile defense; land and weapon systems; naval and underwater systems; command and control (C4ISR); and unmanned systems. Aselsan positioned air and missile defense as the first pillar, noting a family of around ten systems covering engagement ranges from roughly 1 km to beyond 100 km. In this segment, the company highlighted that SİPER Block I is already in service and stated that SİPER Block II is about to be deployed with a greater range envelope. Aselsan also presented GÜRZ as the newest multipurpose, all-in-one air and missile defense solution in the family, with an engagement band cited at approximately 4–15 km. These systems, the company underlined, are engineered to be orchestrated through common C2 services inside Steel Dome so that the appropriate effector, hard-kill or soft-kill, can be matched to the threat.
The second category, land and weapon systems, spans effectors and munitions across a wide caliber spectrum. Aselsan described coverage from small-arms and automatic cannon calibers through medium and large-caliber ground systems up to 120 mm, with the intent that these land-domain capabilities can be cued by the same command network and contribute to counter-UAS and short-range air defense when the tactical context permits.
Naval and underwater systems form the third category. Aselsan referenced sea-based air defense and close-in protection solutions such as the GÖKDENİZ close-in weapon system and the GÖKSUR 100N vertical launch system (VLS). The company said that on 7 October, it successfully tested the GÖKSUR VLS, citing an engagement range of more than 15 km. Beyond air threats, Aselsan emphasized that underwater detection capabilities are being federated within the Steel Dome framework, pointing to domestic efforts on beyond-the-horizon submarine defense sonar to expand the navy’s indigenous undersea surveillance capacity and connect maritime awareness into the same recognized air and maritime picture.
Command and control (C4ISR) is the fourth category and the core of the architecture. Aselsan underscored HAKIM as the airspace command-and-control backbone, alongside HAKIM 100/RAD for radar-network management, with TURAN (a tactical unified radio access network) and T-LINK providing the mission-network and data-link services. Together, these suites are intended to fuse sensor data, distribute a recognized air picture, and manage weapons assignment across echelons. Steel Dome’s “system of systems” approach relies on this interoperability layer so that sensors, C2 nodes, and effectors from different programs, and, when required, allied assets, can be mixed, matched, and layered according to mission needs.
Unmanned systems constitute the fifth category. Aselsan cited maritime, undersea, and ground components that can plug into the same digital fabric, including the Marlin unmanned surface vehicle, the Deringöz autonomous underwater vehicle, and payload suites for unmanned ground platforms. In Aselsan’s concept, these unmanned assets extend sensing, communications relay, and, where relevant, effector options, while remaining manageable within the same C4I environment.
Aselsan linked its network-centric design philosophy to operational lessons observed since the Syrian civil war and the subsequent Russian intervention. The company argued that the combination of inexpensive aerial threats, electronic warfare, and complex airspace use requires a layered response that is as much about data and decision-making as it is about kinetic interceptors. Within Steel Dome, Aselsan’s command-and-control software and artificial-intelligence support tools are intended to help operators evaluate threats and select the most appropriate response on a case-by-case basis. The objective is to apply the right effector to the right target at the right moment, preserving high-end munitions for demanding engagements while using more economical measures whenever feasible.
This cost-conscious logic was illustrated with reference to counter-UAS defense. Aselsan highlighted that, for certain classes of small unmanned aircraft, a layered response can prioritize affordable effectors rather than defaulting to high-value missile shots. The company cited examples such as employing Korkut’s Atom programmable ammunition to destabilize or defeat slow and small aerial targets when conditions allow. The same decision framework extends to soft-kill options where relevant, including jamming and other electronic or electromagnetic solutions designed to disrupt guidance, navigation, and control links. In Aselsan’s formulation, Steel Dome is multi-mission, multi-layer, multi-system, and cross-domain, combining hard-kill interceptors with soft-kill measures within a single coordinated architecture.
The brains of the system were presented around software and communications suites such as HAKIM, TURAN, and T-LINK, which Aselsan described as key elements for fusing data, distributing the recognized air picture, and managing weapons assignment. While each component serves distinct roles, the company’s emphasis remained on the overall coherence of the architecture rather than on any single product. Aselsan stated that Steel Dome’s design enables the integration of allied NATO systems, mentioning that U.S.-made Patriot batteries are among the assets that can be brought into the architecture when required. The company added that Steel Dome products are NATO-compatible and certified to operate within alliance standards, which it sees as essential for combined operations along the southern flank.
Aselsan also explained that Steel Dome sits atop the company’s broader technology base. In addition to the five Integrated Defense Systems mission categories, the radar and electronic-warfare portfolio is being expanded across ground-based, naval, and airborne lines. The company pointed to the ALP family as a flagship for ground-based surveillance and early-warning roles, to naval radars optimized for surface and air search and fire control, and to airborne sensors such as the MURAD AESA radar planned for integration on the KAAN fighter. By treating these families as parts of a unified whole, Aselsan aims to shorten the path from sensor to shooter and to keep public-alert and civil-protection functions linked to the same situational framework when appropriate.
Within the Steel Dome construct, Aselsan described four nested defensive “bubbles", each contained within the next, managed through HAKIM variants and associated radar-network services. The first bubble covers close-area air defense; the second addresses tactical air defense; the third provides operational-level coverage; and the fourth extends to strategic air and missile defense. According to Aselsan, the management of these bubbles is allocated across HAKIM instances (for example, ADOG 100, ADOG 200, and follow-ons) so that threat data, engagement orders, and battle-damage assessment flow coherently upward and downward through the layers without breaking interoperability.
Budgetary efficiency was a recurring theme. Aselsan contended that integration and AI-assisted decision support can improve both effectiveness and affordability by ensuring that interceptors and countermeasures are matched to the threat. In the company’s view, spending should be driven by the operational logic of a layered, digitally coordinated defense rather than by isolated point solutions. The detect-decide-intercept cycle presented during the briefings captured this philosophy. First, sensors and data processing build a fused picture and track the threat. Second, decision tools assess courses of action and select an effector. Third, the intercept or disruption is executed using the most suitable hard- or soft-kill option. This is the sequence the company wants operators to experience in practice, regardless of which specific sensor or weapon is on the loop.
Finally, Aselsan indicated that it is engaged with NATO bodies and partners on the broader architecture question and confirmed it has been selected as one of five companies for NATO’s Modular Air Defense Project. As presented during the press day, this initiative aims to define an open, modular, and interoperable framework, with standardized, plug-and-fight interfaces, so that allied sensors, command-and-control nodes, and effectors can be mixed, matched, and layered according to national or coalition needs. In this context, Steel Dome is positioned not merely as a national solution but as a reference architecture capable of federating national assets and allied contributions under a common C4I umbrella, accelerating practical integration with existing NATO capabilities and tightening the detect–decide–intercept cycle across the southern flank.
The press day at Gölbaşı offered a rare opportunity to see the architecture presented end-to-end, from the software backbone to effectors positioned in a layered construct. For Army Recognition, which attended the presentations, met with Aselsan’s leadership, and took part in an exclusive facility tour, the visit provided valuable insight into how the company frames the threat environment and the operational solutions it proposes. Aselsan’s Steel Dome is presented as a NATO-ready, network-centric shield designed to knit together military, security, and selected civilian elements. Its promise rests on interoperability, layered defense, and disciplined decision-making that aligns the cost and capability of each effector with the target at hand. In a European security context increasingly shaped by drones, electronic warfare, and complex airspace, the approach outlined in Ankara reflects an ambition to move beyond stand-alone systems toward a coordinated, alliance-compatible architecture focused on deterrence, resilience, and practical affordability.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.