ROKETSAN General Manager Murat İkin announced that the TAYFUN Block-3 ballistic missile will be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces in 2026.
An important development has occurred for Block-3 in Turkey's long-range ballistic missile family, TAYFUN. ROKETSAN General Manager Murat İkin stated in his statement to CNN Türk that TAYFUN Block-3 will be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces this year.
The statement of the Second reveals that Block-3 is not only in the development and testing phase, but also the mass production and delivery process is progressing. ROKETSAN General Manager had previously announced that TAYFUN Block-3 is in mass production and its delivery will be made in 2026.
The Block-2 version of the TAYFUN family began to enter the Turkish Land Forces Command inventory in 2026. The Ministry of National Defense announced that the inspection and acceptance activities of various TAYFUN Block-2 missiles were completed on September 24, 2026.
Thus, after Block-2 in the TAYFUN family, Block-3, which has more advanced targeting and warhead capabilities, is planned to be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces in the same year.
The most important difference of Blok-3: Seeker head
One of the main features that distinguishes TAYFUN Blok-3 from previous versions is seeker head integration.
This capability has been developed to allow the missile not only to strike at predetermined coordinates, but also to detect and engage the target in the final phase of the flight.
This capability was clearly demonstrated in the test firing in July 2026. In the test in the Black Sea, TAYFUN Block-3 hit an unmanned target moving on the sea, reaching hypersonic speeds. ROKETSAN announced that seeker head integration was used in the test and the target was successfully destroyed.
Presidential Defense Industry President Haluk Görgün also announced that the test in question furthered TAYFUN's long-range precision strike capability. The test was announced as the first example of a ballistic missile hitting a moving surface target in Turkey.
TAYFUN can now engage moving sea targets
The test carried out by Block-3 in July revealed a significant expansion in the mission concept of the TAYFUN family.
The unmanned marine vehicle used as a target during the test was detected and shot by the missile's seeker head while it was moving. This shows that TAYFUN is not only a system that can be used against fixed land targets, but also has gained a new capability against moving sea targets.
In his previous statements, Murat İkin stated that the seeker head technology is critical for TAYFUN to be used against ships at sea. Second also announced that similar technologies will be transferred to air-launched ballistic missiles in the future.
Therefore, with the entry of Block-3 into the Turkish Armed Forces inventory, a variant of the TAYFUN family that can be used against mobile targets on the sea as well as land targets will be approaching operational use.
Highly protected targets with penetrating warhead
Another striking feature of TAYFUN Block-3 is its penetrating warhead.
In recent statements, it is stated that Block-3 will also be used against highly protected land targets with its penetrating warhead. In this context, shelters and reinforced structures especially stand out.
Murat İkin had previously explained that the seeker head is important not only for naval targets but also for hitting sensitive targets on land. The latter drew attention to the importance of precision strike capability, especially on targets such as bunkers and fortified buildings.
Therefore, Block-3's mission concept combines capabilities for two different target groups: mobile sea targets and highly protected land targets.
TAYFUN Block-3 reaches hypersonic speeds
TAYFUN family is being developed in the high-speed ballistic missile class. In the statements made by ROKETSAN and public institutions, it is stated that Block-3 can reach hypersonic speeds and has long-range precision strike capability.
However, the exact range, flight profile, terminal speed or operational deployment details for Block-3 have not been publicly disclosed. For this reason, estimated range or technical performance values found in different sources should not be considered as definitive data.
Production continues in the TAYFUN family
ROKETSAN's production activities in the TAYFUN family continue with Block-2 and Block-3. According to Murat İkin's latest statement, TAYFUN Block-2 and Block-3 are currently in mass production, and preparations for the transition to mass production for Block-4 are continuing.
Deliveries of Block-2 started in 2026. With the statement of the Ministry of National Defense dated September 24, it was confirmed that the acceptance activities of a new TAYFUN Block-2 batch to the Land Forces Command were completed.
With the delivery of Block-3 this year, the Turkish Armed Forces is expected to start using variants with different capabilities in the TAYFUN family.
Block-4 will be the next phase
The development process of the TAYFUN family does not end with Block-3. ROKETSAN continues its work on TAYFUN Block-4, which has more advanced capabilities.
Murat İkin stated that Block-4 will be put into operation after Block-3 and the transition to mass production will take place at a later stage. In his last statement to CNN Turk, he stated that Block-4 is the next phase of the family.
Thus, in the TAYFUN family, the current deliveries of Block-2, the delivery target of Block-3 in 2026, and the development/production preparations of Block-4 form a successive structure.
Critical phase for TAYFUN Block-3
The delivery of TAYFUN Block-3 to the Turkish Armed Forces in 2026 is the next important stage in the program after the mobile naval target test carried out in July.
Blok-3, which has a tested capability against moving sea targets thanks to its seeker warhead, is also being developed for missions against highly protected land targets with its penetrating warhead. The exact delivery date and the quantity of the first batch to be delivered have not yet been disclosed to the public.
