SOM-J was originally developed to fit inside the F-35’s internal bays. Meant for both land and sea targets, it will also be integrated on the KAAN fifth generation stealth fighter and the Kizilelma UCAV.
Turkey conducted the first live-fire test of its SOM-J ALCM (Air-Launched Cruise Missile) from a Turkish Air Force (TuAF/Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) F-16 Block 40 assigned to the 401st Test Squadron, the country’s Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır announced on Mar. 21, 2025. In the making for at least six years, the weapon is developed by TÜBİTAK SAGE, often referred to as the Turkish equivalent of DARPA, and built by Roketsan.
The missile was released over the sea and maneuvered towards the target, as seen also in the footage captured by the targeting pod of the chase aircraft which showed the missile suddenly changing direction mid-air, before striking a container mounted on a barge and marked as a target.
Bearing test markings all over its orange paint, the missile was inert and thus without a warhead, as it did not explode after hitting the mock target, instead piercing through the other side. The video released online provided multiple viewpoints of the launch, flight and impact.
The SOM-J has been around since 2018, when in July it appeared as a test article on an F-16 from the 401st TS, together with another SOM-J captive carry version on its left wing. At the time, it was used to conduct a “safe ammunition release” and “separation” test from the F-16, with a TuAF F-4E Phantom shown flying beside it as chase.
Then, in May. 2021, then TÜBİTAK SAGE director Gürcan Okumuş announced an “important stage” in the weapon’s development and announced a test from an F-16 soon. This was planned to be followed by “significant progress” on UAVs that same year, and was then presumably delayed for unknown reasons.
Yeni yetenek yüklendi! 🚀🌊✅
TÜBİTAK SAGE tarafından geliştirilen SOM-J seyir füzemiz, suüstü bir platforma karşı yapılan ilk test atışında hedefi başarıyla vurdu. 🎯
SOM-J; modern harp ortamında Türk Silahlı Kuvvetlerimiz için etkin bir kuvvet çarpanı olacak ve uzun menzilden… pic.twitter.com/8hX92zaaMB
— Mehmet Fatih KACIR (@mfatihkacir) March 21, 2025
On Sep. 6, 2021, another image appeared showing a SOM-J, designated KTM-2, on the left wing’s hardpoint of an F-16. This unit was fully black, without the test markings, suggesting there are more than three units in existence, with the earlier ones used for captive carry and component validation trials.
401. Test filo tarafından F-16 uçağımızda test edilen SOM-J füzesi. pic.twitter.com/WUwXFNVceM
— Yusuf Akbaba (@ssysfakb) July 29, 2018
The missile and the video
The SOM-J, which also has land attack capability, will be integrated with the KAAN fifth generation stealth fighter and the Kizilelma UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle). Interestingly, TurDef said that SOM-J was originally developed to fit inside the future Turkish F-35’s internal bays, with a “different airframe” compared to the previous SOM-A and SOM-B variants.
The latest missile, colored orange and peppered with test markings, has a trapezoidal shape. It has tandem X-shaped fins, with the first ones being foldable, as well as folding wings which deploy after the missile is released.
🚀@SageTubitak Enstitü Müdürü @gurcano :
– SOM-J’de önemli aşamalara geldik, çok yakında F-16’dan atışları da planlanıyor
– F-16’dan ilk atış testlerimizi tamamladıktan sonra hızla bu yıl içinde İHA’larda da önemli yol alacağımızı düşünüyorum#SAVUNMA pic.twitter.com/hAtmSrEFeA
— Ahmet Melik Türkeş (@amelikturkes) May 22, 2021
Two flat and slightly protruding air intakes on the sides of the body, just forward of the tail fins, point to an air-breathing engine. The rest of the heavily angled shaping makes evident that the design places a premium on low-observability. The warhead’s weight and make has not been mentioned, but high-explosive, blast-fragmentation types are generally used for striking warships or bunkers.
The video of the live fire mission shows the F-16 taking off carrying the SOM-J test article, marked “SOM-J ATM,” on its right wing’s hardpoint, and another SOM-J, painted black and marked “SOM-J KTM-2,” on the left wing. The aircraft is chased by a twin-seat F-16 which acted as safety chase, as usual during testing, and captured the footage.
💢SOM-J suüstü hedefi tam isabetle vurdu:
TÜBİTAK SAGE tarafından geliştirilen SOM-J seyir füzesi, suüstü platformlara karşı gerçekleştirilen ilk test atışında hedefi başarıyla vurdu.🇹🇷🚀🎯
👉📝 https://t.co/62EGTOGtDR pic.twitter.com/fdLxqlj9zS
— Defence and Technology (@SavunmaTekno) March 21, 2025
The missile is shown, through the infrared camera of the targeting pod, banking to the right as it maneuvers towards the target. It is not possible to discern whether the fins, a thrust vectoring nozzle or a combination of both is used for the maneuver.
Footage from five different points of view captured the impact: two from both sides of the barge, showing where the SOM-J strikes under the marked spot of the large container at its bottom and where it exits from; one just beside the barge on one of the mooring ropes; an overhead infrared view, possibly from the F-16’s targeting pod; and another CCD clip from over the barge’s left side.
An interesting detail is visible in the cockpit view shown in the video, as a tablet can be seen installed over the F-16’s Integrated Control Panel (ICP). This tablet allows the use of the UBAS (Aircraft Independent Firing System), a Turkish mission software which acts as a weapons interface to employ Turkish-developed weapons.
UBAS (Aircraft Independent Firing System) being used to employ the SOM-J here—that is what the tablet on the ICP is for since this is an upgraded F-16C B40M and not a non-CCIP jet with the older GAC. The tab runs off 🇹🇷 mission software essentially working as a weapons interface. https://t.co/V68dU4RkG4 pic.twitter.com/eIbhhvvw6V
— Abd (@blocksixtynine) March 21, 2025
Missile capabilities
As Turkey’s Minister for Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır mentioned in the announcement, the missile boasts “post-fire control via data link” that can bring about “retargeting, target update, mission cancellation [and] broadcast mute.” Other features include the ability to engage surface targets, an infrared seeker head and “low radar visibility.”
The missile’s range, and whether it also has an onboard database to match the seeker’s image of a target with the library before beginning its final attack run, is not yet known. Its navigation system has also not been disclosed, but missiles of this class usually have both a GPS (Global Positioning System) and a INS (Inertial Navigation System) as standard. SOM-J “will enable the neutralization of high-value targets from long range,” is all that Kacır’s X post said.
This doesn’t necessarily help during risky yet necessary missions braving air defense and CAPs (Combat Air Patrol), when ALCM strikes have to be synchronized with SEAD/DEAD (Suppression/Destruction of Enemy Air Defense) missions to hit targets of opportunity in fluid battles. Moreover, pre-flight targeting is only useful for fixed land targets, and not slow-moving yet non-static targets like warships.
We do not know what targeting mode was used in the current test, and at what point the Turks employed their data link. It is possible the SOM-J may have been fired toward a different target area it received prior to take-off or launch, and then retasked toward the floating target barge. Anadolu Agency said that the missile can “hide itself by monitoring the landforms,” suggesting a terrain-hugging flight capability.
Turkish F-16 spotted with AGM-84K-1 SLAM-ER
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Ministry of National Defence also released an image on Mar. 20, 2025, showing an F-16D Block 50+ from the 181st Fleet Command carrying a rarely seen loadout. In fact, the jet was carrying two AGM-84-K-1 SLAM-ERs under the wings, two live AIM-120 AMRAAMs on the wingtips, an ASELPOD targeting pod, and three external fuel tanks on the wings and the centerline.
🇹🇷 Good shots of a Turkish Air Force (THK) F-16D Block 50+ (07-1019) from 181 Filo “Leopard”, seen here equipped with two AIM-120B AMRAAMs, two AGM-84K-1 SLAM-ER ATA air-to-surface missiles, two 370-gal wing tanks, a 300-gal centerline tank, and an ASELPOD advanced targeting pod. https://t.co/R8dhXjyWIY pic.twitter.com/Fa46toxqZ3
— Guy Plopsky (@GuyPlopsky) March 20, 2025
Ankara acquired the SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response) in 2006 under an FMS (Foreign Military Sales) program, and conducted separation tests from TuAF F-16s between 2011 and 2012. Made by Boeing, the weapon is a highly adaptable day/night, all-weather, over-the-horizon precision strike missile.
According to some reports, the SOM family of weapons might replace in future both the SLAM-ER and the AGM-142 Popeye, the latter used by the F-4 and expected to be retired before 2030.
TAGS: F-16, Turkey, Turkish Air Force, Türk Hava Kuvvetleri, Roketsan, TÜBİTAK SAGE, ALCM, Air-Launched Cruise Missile, SOM-J
