The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) has developed Türkiye's first domestically produced civilian surveillance radar.
The radar was installed and tested at Gaziantep Airport. It will contribute to the safe and secure management of the heavy air traffic in Türkiye's airspace.
The radar system consists of two parts: a primary surveillance radar and a secondary surveillance radar. The primary surveillance radar detects information such as the position, direction, and speed of aircraft in the airspace. The secondary surveillance radar receives information from the aircraft such as identification, altitude, and emergency information. The primary surveillance radar has a range of 112 kilometers, while the secondary surveillance radar has a range of 370 kilometers. With this radar system, our airspace will be monitored 24 hours a day.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu highlighted the importance of the domestically produced observation radar. Uraloğlu emphasized that the system will contribute to the safe and secure management of air traffic, stating, “It will increase the efficiency of air traffic control services. It will reduce dependence on foreign sources. It will contribute to Türkiye's technological development in the field of aviation.”.
Minister Uraloğlu stated that the infrastructure acceptance tests for the radar complex in Gaziantep were completed in 2020, and the final acceptance tests for the Primary Surveillance Radar system within the complex were carried out in 2022.
Uraloğlu stated that the system will serve the approach traffic of Gaziantep Airport on one hand, and manage the en-route traffic within 370 kilometers on the other, adding, "With the commissioning of MGR, Turkey has made significant progress in air traffic control services.".
In addition to TÜBİTAK, institutions such as the Presidency of Defence Industries, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, the General Directorate of State Airports Authority, and the Turkish Aeronautical Association also provided support in the development of the radar. The radar is planned to be fully operational in 2024.
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