Türkiye’s AKYA Torpedo Splits Target Ship in Denizkurdu-2 Drill
By Bosphorus News Defense Desk
Roketsan-built AKYA, Türkiye's indigenous heavyweight torpedo, split a target ship during a submarine-launched firing in the Denizkurdu-2/2026 naval exercise, adding a visible live-fire test to Ankara's push for nationally controlled underwater strike systems.
The torpedo was fired from the Turkish Navy submarine TCG Sakarya against a designated surface target. Footage from the exercise showed the target vessel breaking into two sections after impact, turning AKYA's latest firing into one of the clearest public demonstrations yet of Türkiye's heavy torpedo program.
AKYA is a new-generation heavyweight torpedo developed for submarine-launched attacks against submarines and surface vessels. Roketsan lists the system with a range of more than 50 kilometers, speed above 45 knots, active and passive sonar guidance, fiber-optic wire guidance and wake guidance against surface targets.
The firing took place during a broader live-fire sequence in Denizkurdu-2/2026, where Turkish naval units also used the ATMACA anti-ship missile against a surface target and the HİSAR-D RF guided missile against an air target. The package placed underwater, surface and air-defense systems inside the same naval exercise environment rather than presenting AKYA as an isolated weapons test.
Defense Industry Agency President Haluk Görgün said the firings showed how Türkiye's defense industry ecosystem was responding to the operational needs of the Turkish Naval Forces. His remarks tied the test directly to the country's wider naval deterrence program and to the use of national systems in the Blue Homeland doctrine language used in Turkish defense policy.
The AKYA firing matters because heavyweight torpedoes sit at the core of submarine combat power. Unlike anti-ship missiles, which are more visible in public defense coverage, a submarine-launched torpedo gives a navy a concealed strike option against high-value surface vessels and hostile submarines. For Türkiye, that places AKYA inside a broader modernization file that includes submarine combat-management systems, national missiles, naval air defense and indigenous sensors.
Specialist defense reporting said the firing was conducted from TCG Sakarya, a Preveze-class submarine, through the MÜREN combat-management system. That detail is important because the value of AKYA is not limited to the torpedo body itself. Operational use depends on integration with submarine fire-control architecture, sensors, command systems and crew procedures.
Türkiye has worked for years to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers in naval strike systems. AKYA was developed to replace imported heavyweight torpedo options in Turkish submarines and to give the navy a national weapon that can be upgraded, integrated and supplied without external permission chains.
The latest firing does not by itself settle every question around fleet-wide deployment, stock levels or wartime inventory depth. It does, however, give Türkiye a strong public test point for a weapon designed to sit inside the country's most sensitive underwater warfare capability.
Sources: Roketsan, TRT Haber, Naval News, Bosphorus News review and reporting.