Turkey Develops Precision Guidance Kit for Bombs

The Turkish defense industry took delivery of a batch of locally developed Precision Guidance Kit-82s (HGK-82) on June 25.

The kits were handed over during a ceremony held at the Etimesgut 3rd Air Maintenance Factory in the capital, Ankara, Turkey's Daily Sabah reported Thursday.

Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said that these HGK-82s are the first batch completed within the scope of the kit production project of 1,000 pieces in total carried out in partnership with state-owned defense firm ASFAT and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK). Deliveries of HGK-82s are scheduled to be completed by August 2022.

The HGK-82 was developed by TÜBITAK’s Defense Industries Research and Development Institute (SAGE) and the initial deliveries were made in cooperation with another local defense giant, Aselsan.

These kits turn general-purpose bombs into smart munitions that can operate in all weather conditions day and night with their guidance technology. Unlike previous deliveries, the first domestically produced GPS receiver, Kaşif, has been integrated into the newest batch.

On June 23, Selcuk Bayraktar, Chief Technology Officer of Turkish drone maker Baykar Savunma, tweeted a picture showing the first mass-produced version of Turkey’s Akinci unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), the Akinci S-1, armed with a HGK-84 bomb in its underbelly for the first time.