The news of the Sungur missile being commissioned into service with the Turkish Armed Forces was confirmed by Professor İsmail Demir, Head of the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB). The footage is the first public demonstration of the Sungur portable anti-aircraft kit. Demir wrote that the first batch of portable Sungur missiles had been delivered, but did not specify their exact number.
The video showed a hit on a small remotely controlled aerial target, which can be seen as an imitator of an unmanned aircraft system. Developed primarily by and manufactured by the Turkish company Roketsan, the Sungur missile stands out among other portable anti-aircraft missiles for its use of an Imaging Infrared (I2R) self-guidance array. The range of the Sungur missile is 8 kilometres, with capability to fight targets up to an altitude of 4÷4.5km. In developing the Sungur, Roketsan relied on its experience gained from the licenced co-production of the US FIM-92 Stinger and the development work on the Turkish Hisar-A/-O anti-aircraft missiles, also with an I2R final guidance system. The next announced versions of the Sungur missile will be an ‘air-to-air’ type of missile and a submarine-launched version currently under construction as part of the Levent programme.
