Roketsan unveils urban combat support weapon developments

Roketsan of Turkey has disclosed company-funded development of two new lightweight guided support weapon systems for combat operations in an urban environment: CIDA and Yatağan.

The company classifies the CIDA Weapon System as a cost-effective, low-collateral effects ‘enhanced smart rocket’ capability that “stands between an advanced guided missile and an unguided rocket”. Designed to address the challenges of “topographic uncertainties of the combat area, and the rapid movement of threats during urban operations”, CIDA is a 90 mm very short-range command to line-of-sight support weapon optimised for the dismounted infantry role.

CIDA is a 90 mm short-range guided support weapon designed for operations in an urban combat environment. Roketsan describes the munition as an ‘enhanced smart rocket’. (Roketsan)

Weighing 7.5 kg, 100 cm in length, and with a stated range of 50 m–750 m, the CIDA munition is equipped with a mid-body, centre-axis, single folding wing assembly, and a deployable cruciform aft actuator package. The munition is boosted from a disposable 100 mm launch tube equipped with a soft-launch mechanism; the main rocket motor is subsequently activated to deliver an engagement speed of about 100 m/s. The CIDA launch tube is also furnished with a clip-on, re-usable smart weapon sight, the classification of which was not disclosed. The munition also features an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and semi-active laser (SAL) seeker for precision engagement with circular error probable (CEP) accuracy of 5 m.

Lethality alternatives include thermobaric, multi-purpose (blast fragmentation, incendiary, and armour piercing) and high-explosive blast fragmentation warhead options, each weighing about 2.5 kg.

The other development, designated Yatağan (derived from the Turkish name for an Ottoman-era sword), is a 40 mm guided munition designed to be fired from existing and new-generation 40 mm grenade launchers.