Roketsan’s Cirit Anti-Drone Missile Offers NATO a New Turkish Solution Against Low-Altitude UAV Threats.

Roketsan has unveiled its Cirit C-UAS Missile at SAHA Expo 2026 in Istanbul, presenting Türkiye with a low-cost hard-kill option against small drones that are now draining air defense resources across modern battlefields. The system matters for NATO because it offers a compact, mobile layer to protect bases, convoys, airfields, logistics hubs, and forward troops without relying on scarce high-end interceptors.

Designed to engage low-altitude DoD Group-2 UAVs at ranges up to 5 km, the 70 mm missile uses semi-active laser guidance and a high-explosive warhead to defeat reconnaissance, targeting, harassment, and strike drones. Integrated with the Air Pusu-C air defense system, Cirit C-UAS strengthens Türkiye’s layered air defense portfolio and adds an exportable counter-drone capability suited to NATO missions where affordability, mobility, and confirmed drone neutralization are critical.

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Roketsan’s Cirit C-UAS missile gives Türkiye a compact, lower-cost hard-kill option to defeat small drones and strengthen NATO short-range air defense missions (Picture Source: Army Recognition Group)

At SAHA Expo 2026 in Istanbul, Türkiye, Roketsan unveiled its new Cirit C-UAS Missile as part of its air defence systems portfolio. Presented as a low-cost, low-altitude counter-UAS missile, the system arrives at a time when drones have become one of the most persistent and disruptive threats on modern battlefields. Its relevance extends beyond Türkiye’s own air defence requirements, as NATO forces increasingly seek affordable, mobile and scalable solutions to protect troops, bases, convoys and critical infrastructure from small unmanned aerial systems.

The Cirit C-UAS Missile is designed to engage DoD Group-2 low-altitude UAVs, a category that includes small unmanned aircraft able to conduct reconnaissance, target acquisition, artillery correction, harassment attacks or direct strikes depending on payload and configuration. Acording to Roketsan the missile combines a compact 70 mm diameter and 17 kg launch weight with a 5 km engagement range allowing integration into short-range layered air defence systems against low-altitude aerial threats. It uses a semi-active laser seeker and carries a high-explosive warhead, while its stated role as a low-cost counter-UAS effector places it in the space between electronic warfare, gun-based systems and more expensive surface-to-air missiles. The missile is associated with the Air Pusu-C air defence system, indicating that Roketsan is not only presenting a munition but also contributing to a wider layered architecture for mobile low-altitude protection.

The main operational value of Cirit C-UAS lies in cost discipline. Recent conflicts have shown that armed forces can quickly exhaust expensive interceptor stocks when forced to use high-end missiles against small UAVs costing far less than the weapon used to destroy them. A 70 mm missile adapted for counter-drone missions offers a more balanced engagement option, particularly when a target is too dangerous to ignore but does not justify the use of larger air defence interceptors. Compared with man-portable air defence missiles, medium-range surface-to-air missiles or shipborne air defence weapons, Cirit C-UAS is positioned as a closer, lighter and more economical layer. Compared with guns or jammers, it offers a hard-kill option with guided precision, which is important when electronic attack is ineffective, rules of engagement require a confirmed neutralization, or the protected force is operating in a cluttered environment where a drone must be defeated before it reaches release distance.

For Türkiye, this system reflects the country’s ability to respond quickly to lessons emerging from Ukraine, the Middle East and the Red Sea, where UAVs, loitering munitions and improvised aerial threats have challenged even well-equipped militaries. Turkish industry has already shaped the global drone market through combat-proven unmanned platforms, and Cirit C-UAS shows the other side of that same ecosystem: the capacity to defeat drones with indigenous effectors. By adapting the Cirit missile family into a counter-UAS role, Roketsan benefits from an existing technological base while expanding it toward one of the fastest-growing air defence requirements. This approach strengthens Türkiye’s industrial independence, supports domestic layered air defence planning, and gives Ankara another exportable solution in a market where allied and partner nations are urgently looking for affordable protection against low-altitude UAVs.

For NATO, the strategic relevance is direct. Alliance operations depend on forward bases, logistics hubs, ammunition storage sites, airfields, command posts and mobile formations that are increasingly exposed to small drone surveillance and attack. In Baltic defence scenarios, Black Sea security missions, Balkan stabilization operations or expeditionary deployments outside the Euro-Atlantic area, NATO units may need systems able to protect dispersed positions without consuming scarce high-end interceptors. A Cirit C-UAS-type capability could help fill that gap by adding a lower-cost hard-kill layer to existing allied air defence networks. Its semi-active laser guidance also makes it compatible in principle with distributed targeting concepts, where sensors, designators and launch platforms can be separated to improve survivability and tactical flexibility.

The U.S. and other NATO members have invested heavily in counter-UAS technologies, but the scale of the threat has made clear that no single solution is sufficient. Directed-energy weapons, electronic warfare, kinetic guns, missiles and passive detection systems all have roles, yet the operational problem remains the same: defeating large numbers of inexpensive aerial threats without draining strategic missile inventories. Türkiye’s Cirit C-UAS adds a Turkish-made option to this allied debate and could complement U.S. and NATO efforts by offering a compact guided missile for close-range protection. It is especially relevant for missions where air defence assets must move with ground forces, protect temporary positions or defend light infrastructure against drones operating below the coverage or cost logic of larger systems.

The unveiling of Cirit C-UAS at SAHA Expo 2026 gives Türkiye another visible marker of its growing role as a NATO defence-industrial power. By combining a low-cost counter-UAS mission, a high-explosive warhead, semi-active laser guidance, compact 70 mm architecture and integration with the Air Pusu-C air defence system, Roketsan is addressing one of the most urgent tactical problems facing modern armed forces. The message is clear: Türkiye is not only producing drones that changed battlefield expectations, but also building the defensive tools needed to defeat the next wave of unmanned threats, offering NATO a practical and scalable contribution for future missions and operations.

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.