On Tuesday, May 5, 2026, the first day of the SAHA Expo Defence & Aerospace Exhibition 2026 at the Istanbul Expo Center in Istanbul, the Research and Development Center of the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Türkiye (MSB Ar-Ge) presented a mock-up of the Yildirimhan intercontinental ballistic missile, classified as an ICBM.
Photo and graphic: Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Türkiye
The name Yıldırımhan refers to Sultan Bayezid I the Thunderbolt (Yıldırım Bayezid) and continues the line of earlier Turkish missile programs: the short-range KAAN Bora, with a range of 280–400+ km; Tayfun, with a range of 800–1,000 km; Tayfun Block 4, with a range of 1,000–1,500 km; and the Cenk medium-range system under development, with a range of 2,000 km. However, this is Türkiye’s first ICBM-class missile system, meaning one with a range of more than 5,500 km. Such weapons systems are possessed by leading powers: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Israel, and North Korea, and possibly also Iran.
According to the first disclosed information, Yıldırımhan is to have a range of around 6,000 km, carrying a warhead weighing around 3,000 kg, and flying at hypersonic speed between Mach 9 and Mach 25. In the terminal phase, it is expected to reach a speed of around 36,000 km/h.
The first stage is equipped with four liquid-fueled rocket engines powered by dinitrogen tetroxide (N₂O₄), also known as nitrogen tetroxide. It is worth adding that it requires a mixture with unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) to create a hypergolic rocket propellant – an exceptionally toxic combination of amyl and heptyl. A drawback of this propulsion configuration is the longer time required to prepare the missile for launch, unlike solid fuel. On the other hand, liquid fuel enables a certain degree of thrust modulation and trajectory control, which can be used to refine the ballistic flight profile.
During the opening of the exhibition, the Research and Development Center of the Turkish Ministry of National Defence also presented other new products: the GÜÇHAN turbofan engine with 42,000 lb of thrust, the ONUR turboshaft engine for helicopters, the GÖLGEHAN wide-area jamming transmitter with band-blocking capability, and the PNR-53 Sniper precision rifle with an effective firing range of up to 2,100 m.
Millî Savunma Bakanı Yaşar Güler, SAHA 2026 Fuarı’nda Bakanlığımız AR-GE Merkezi tarafından üretilen yeni teknolojileri kamuoyuna açıkladı.
Davetlilerin yoğun ilgi gösterdiği tanıtım töreninde;
✅ Ülkemizin ilk sıvı roket yakıtlı, hipersonik hızda seyir yapabilen ve en uzun… pic.twitter.com/COA569HTWv
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) May 5, 2026
BREAKING — Turkey unveils intercontinental ballistic missile Yildirimhan with 6,000KM range during SAHA arms expo.
Developed by Turkish Defense Ministry pic.twitter.com/JyEJ95t9X2
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) May 5, 2026