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Türkiye’s Tolga Short-Range Air Defense System Marks a New Phase in Countering Drone Warfare.
Türkiye confirmed the Tolga short-range air defense system’s performance after a series of live fire engagements against unmanned aerial targets on 16 November 2025. The results strengthen the country’s layered Steel Dome defense model at a time when drone threats are rapidly expanding.
On 16 November 2025, Türkiye took a decisive step in close air defense by validating the Tolga short-range air defense system under realistic live-fire conditions, as reported by the Turkish National News channel Anadolu Ajansı and MKE. Designed to respond to the accelerating use of drones, loitering munitions and low-altitude precision weapons on today’s battlefields, Tolga brings together surveillance, electronic warfare and kinetic effectors within a single, integrated architecture. The system’s successful engagement of multiple unmanned aerial targets has elevated it from a development program to a concrete operational capability. In a context shaped by the lessons of the Russia-Ukraine war and the global proliferation of cheap but lethal drones, this new system is emerging as one of the central pillars of Türkiye’s national “Steel Dome” concept for layered air and drone defense.
The debut of the Tolga short-range air defense system as a fully integrated, test-proven solution underscores how seriously Türkiye is treating the drone threat and how rapidly its defense industry is adapting to new forms of warfare (Picture Source: Anadolu Ajansı / MKE)
At its core, Tolga is conceived as a modular close-air-defense ecosystem integrating sensors, effectors, and command functions within a unified architecture. The system combines a dedicated command-and-control unit, search and tracking radar, electro-optical sensors, electronic jammers, and a suite of 35 mm, 20 mm, and dual 12.7 mm weapons supported by specially developed anti-drone ammunition. Tolga is designed to detect and classify small aerial threats at distances of up to approximately 10 kilometers, particularly through its electronic warfare and surveillance components, before transitioning to engagement phases. Once a target is detected, the radar and electro-optical package ensure continuous tracking, enabling the system to determine the most suitable soft-kill or hard-kill response based on distance, altitude, target profile, and operational rules of engagement.
The soft-kill layer relies on electronic countermeasures capable of neutralizing unmanned aerial systems at standoff distances, while the hard-kill component provides close-range kinetic interception. The 35 mm gun delivers effective engagements at up to roughly 3 kilometers, supported by programmable airburst rounds that disperse a dense fragmentation pattern around fast, maneuvering drones. The 20 mm and dual 12.7 mm guns add further layers of defense at shorter ranges, ensuring redundancy in complex threat environments. The anti-drone ammunition is engineered to detonate at pre-set distances, increasing hit probability against small, agile aerial platforms that are difficult to strike with direct fire. Tolga’s architecture supports multiple deployment modes. It can be installed as a fixed asset for base defense, integrated on wheeled or tracked vehicles for mobile protection of convoys and maneuver formations, or adapted for naval platforms to safeguard surface vessels and critical maritime infrastructure. This modularity allows armed forces to field a common counter-UAS solution across different environments while maintaining logistical and operational coherence.
The road to Tolga’s first live-fire success has followed an accelerated yet structured development path, driven by domestic engineering and informed by operational feedback from conflict zones. Developed by Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE) entirely with indigenous technologies, the system was first presented publicly at the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul as Türkiye’s response to the rapidly evolving drone threat. Subsequent trials at the Ministry of National Defense Karapınar Firing Test and Evaluation Group Command in Konya involved both soft-kill and hard-kill scenarios against mini and micro UAVs, tactical drones and targets representative of cruise missiles and smart munitions. During its first full-scale live-fire campaign, Tolga reportedly achieved a 100% success rate across eight different scenarios, neutralizing drones at various ranges and profiles with minimal ammunition expenditure, often in the first short burst. MKE’s leadership has underlined that the industrial groundwork for serial production is now complete, both for the weapon systems and the dedicated ammunition, allowing a rapid transition from development to large-scale delivery to the Turkish Armed Forces and export customers.
From a capability standpoint, Tolga’s main strength lies in its genuinely layered and integrated approach within the short-range air defense segment. Many comparable systems internationally focus either on electronic attack (jamming and spoofing) or on kinetic interception; Tolga deliberately merges both, providing soft-kill options to disrupt remotely piloted drones at standoff ranges and hard-kill solutions to destroy autonomous, fiber-optic-guided or pre-programmed systems that cannot be jammed. Its tailored ammunition family, with different engagement envelopes for 35 mm, 20 mm and 12.7 mm calibers, allows operators to match effectors to the threat: larger rounds for targets up to about 3,000 meters, intermediate calibers for 1,000-meter engagements, and heavy machine-gun fire for very close-in defense near 300 meters. Compared with other short-range air defense and counter-UAS products on the market, Tolga’s combination of indigenous ammunition, modular integration on land and naval platforms, and the ability to operate in manual, semi-autonomous or fully autonomous modes gives Türkiye a flexible system that can be tailored to different doctrines and budgets. It also reduces dependence on imported C-UAS components at a time when many countries are competing for similar technologies.
Beyond its immediate tactical performance, Tolga carries significant strategic weight for Türkiye’s defense posture and its role in the wider region. Militarily, the system constitutes the lower tier of the national “Steel Dome” concept, providing the last-line shield against drones and low-altitude threats under 3,000 meters and closing a critical gap between point defense and higher-altitude surface-to-air missile systems. This enhances the survivability of Turkish land forces, air bases, logistics hubs and naval assets in a battlespace where small drones and loitering munitions have proven capable of disabling high-value targets at relatively low cost. Geostrategically, Tolga reinforces Türkiye’s ambition to position itself as a key provider of integrated air and drone defense solutions to friendly and allied nations, especially in regions such as the Middle East, the Caucasus, North Africa and parts of Asia where drone use is expanding rapidly. By planning demonstration campaigns abroad and offering a system developed entirely with national technologies, Ankara is signaling both its industrial autonomy and its readiness to export a capability that many armed forces are urgently seeking. In the longer term, Tolga’s export success could strengthen Türkiye’s defense industrial base, cement its status as a reference player in the counter-UAS domain and give it additional leverage in security partnerships and defense cooperation frameworks.
The debut of the Tolga short-range air defense system as a fully integrated, test-proven solution underscores how seriously Türkiye is treating the drone threat and how rapidly its defense industry is adapting to new forms of warfare. By combining radar, electro-optics, electronic warfare and specialized ammunition within a single modular architecture ready for serial production, MKE is offering both the Turkish Armed Forces and potential partners a domestically controlled tool to protect critical assets in a contested air environment. As conflicts continue to demonstrate the disruptive power of small, expendable aerial systems, Tolga positions Türkiye not only to defend its own forces and territory more effectively, but also to shape the emerging global market for close-in air and drone defense.
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.