Story ID: 395
Roketsan Expands Weapons Portfolio
By: David Donald
Caption: Roketsan has developed its smallest smart micro munition yet, based on the Cirit rocket and tailored for UAVs
Word Count: 281
Turkish missile house Roketsan (Stand 758) is showing its latest MAM-C Smart Micro Munition this week at the 2017 Dubai Air Show. The unpowered glide weapon was first showcased at the IDEF exhibition in Turkey earlier in the year, and is being displayed at Dubai alongside its larger MAM-L cousin. Both weapons have been developed for use with UAVs and light attack aircraft, for which weight and size are major issues.

Whereas MAM-L has a launch weight of 48.5 pounds/22 kg, the MAM-C is based on a 70-mm diameter body and weighs just 18.7 pounds/8.5 kg with a 5.5-pound/2.5 kg warhead. The new weapon draws on the technology employed in the Cirit laser-guided rocket that is in service with the armed forces of Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, while the larger MAM-L is based on the systems of the L-UMTAS anti-armour missile.

Both munitions have a range of around five miles/eight kilometers and both employ laser guidance. The MAM-L has been cleared for service with the Bayraktar TB2, TAI Anka and Vestel Karayel UAVs. The example of the Karayel-SU at Dubai is being shown on the Vestel display (Stand 680) with both MAM-C and MAM-L weapons.

Cirit itself has been enhanced with the addition of a thermobaric warhead option. The weapon was previously only available with a high-explosive warhead, or a multipurpose unit with anti-personnel, anti-armour and incendiary effects. Roketsan has also added a laser guidance option to its Teber bomb kit family that turns a standard Mk 81 or Mk 82 general-purpose bomb into a precision weapon. The laser option adds a low-cost seeker to the GPS guidance kit that has previously been developed for the Teber.