Defence officials, industry representatives and military analysts soon questioned the true capabilities of the 18-metre-long missile © AP
John Paul Rathbone in Istanbul
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Turkey’s grand unveiling of an intercontinental ballistic missile has backfired after an AI-generated promotional video showed the weapon seeming to strike its US ally.
The Yıldırımhan missile was presented at a defence expo in Istanbul this week as capable of travelling 6,000km carrying a 3,000kg warhead at up to 25 times the speed of sound — placing Turkey among a small group of countries able to develop such weapons.
But questions quickly arose about the real capabilities of the system, sparked by the AI video showing the Yıldırımhan hitting nuclear facilities and other targets that appeared to be in the US.
The Americas would be well beyond the official range of the missile — and Turkish officials later admitted a working prototype of the Yıldırımhan had yet to be built for full testing.
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An AI-generated video showing the Yıldırımhan striking sites that appeared to be in the US © Turkish defence ministry/Reuters
Turkey has been eager to showcase its military prowess ahead of a critical Nato leaders’ summit in Ankara this July. At the same time, the US-Israeli war with Iran has deepened Turkey’s ambition to increase its military deterrence amid a region wracked with conflict.
“We intend to use it solely for deterrence purposes,” defence minister Yaşar Güler said at a launch event for the missile on Tuesday. “However, should the need arise, let no one doubt that we will deploy it without hesitation and in the most effective manner,” he added.
There was no indication that Güler was aware that the video appeared to include targets in North America.
Despite the fanfare, defence officials, industry representatives and military analysts soon questioned the true capabilities of the 18-metre-long missile.
“It’s an overestimation. Turkey’s defence industry has many capabilities, and is improving fast, but it’s not yet at this level,” said one western defence official.
“It seems very ambitious and questionable,” added Fabian Hoffman, a missile expert at the University of Oslo.
Within days of unveiling the missile, Turkey’s ministry of defence clarified that the system was still in a testing phase. “Laboratory testing of the Yıldırımhan missile system, which has a warhead payload capacity of 3 tonnes, has been successfully completed, and field testing is proceeding,” it said on Thursday.
Turkey’s booming defence industry has turned it into the world’s 11th biggest arms exporter and a key partner in Europe’s need to re-arm itself. While Europe has struggled to supply Ukraine and replenish depleted defence stocks, Turkish armoured vehicles, warships, drones and munitions have rolled off factory production lines.
Key Nato allies such as the UK and Germany have described Turkey’s industrial capacity as essential to the defence of Europe.
Baykar, chaired by Selçuk Bayraktar, the son-in-law of president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is one of the world’s leaders in artificial intelligence-enabled drone manufacturing and a joint venture partner with Italy’s Leonardo. Spain last year acquired 30 Hürjet planes from Turkish Aerospace to train its combat pilots in partnership with Airbus.
Turkey has also prioritised making a broad array of ballistic and cruise missiles “for deterrence and, should that fail, for war”, defence analysts Sıtkı Egeli and Arda Mevlütoğlu wrote in a recent paper for the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.  
However, Yıldırımhan’s alleged properties lie far beyond current capabilities, analysts said.
Turkey’s longest-range missile is currently the Tayfun, built by state-backed Roketsan, according to defence analyst Murat Gürgen. It has reached 600km in test launches, only a tenth of the Yıldırımhan’s declared 6,000km range.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026. All rights reserved.

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Making comments that are counter to article are getting deleted
Signing a missile is peak Turkey
(Edited)
Turkey should be kicked out of NATO for this nonsense. Sorry, but unacceptable.
A storm in a tea cup.
We will come regret that Turkey is in NATO and included in all things European. Turkey is a middle eastern nation deeply anchored in that region.
Who will defend you when the Ruskies come?

Here is a hint: It ain't gonna be the Yanks or the French.
(Edited)
I find calling turks middle eastern ridiculous, by the same token, yeah americans are latinos, just like americans, they share border and religion…
Clearly Intention is to insult .
Freudian slip?
There is a target much closer to home they should be considering.
Tehran
#awkward
The missile is too round, it needs to be pointy
Yes, like that Mozart piece with "too many notes".
When will we in the UK build up our defence system?
When labour are deposed
Soon it will be done
Never.

Farage is too attached to Trump's backside to dare decouple the UK's defense from the US.

The Greens want to abolish the military.

The Conservatives destroyed the defense industry and they insist on even more destruction.

Labour doesn't know whether they serve this country or another country.
Never. Benefits and the triple lock are more important to marginal voters, and politicians care about nothing but remaining in power.
Same distance to China , and a better headline.
Original name anyway.
This is more for making erdogan appear strong at home and riding the anti israel waves to the 2028 election
For a more realistic assessment of Turkey’s missiles and cruise missiles capabilities see the very recent analysis by The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) - https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/missile-dialogue-initiative/2026/04/turkiyes-missile-odyssey/ Someone is trying to put Turkey into a box. Their capabilities are well known and this sort of provocation only serve those who are trying to crate yet another “existential” threat now that Iran has turned out to be a dud, NATO knows exactly what the Turks are up to and threatening the US is the last thing they would do, especially with a very friendly US administration in power,
Totally agree ,
Article fails to state why Turks would want to attack US given relations between both are good and trading relations improve by the year.
(Edited)
Why is Turkey still in NATO?
Because the NATO treaty forgot to include a clause on how to expel members.
NATO will shrivel on the vine.
U.S. taxpayers of both parties are tired of paying trillions over 70 years for nothing.
Tired of being stationed there. Tired of their snobery and hatred of the country who lost half a million men to “save Europe” in a century.
Let China land their new landing ships at Normandy. It won’t be Putin’s orders.
Russia is a China vassal now & Beria is coming for Putin soon.
It will be China invading.
And, Nato can pay for its own defense and its own welfare for migrants on their own.
American voters are post Hart Celler, no Europe ties and dislike “White colonialists”. And the rest are Republicans who loathe Euros and Turkey right back. (Except Poland, Estonia, etc.)
Oh, and Turkey will side with China against Europe.
Pincer effect.
Isn’t it great to see the empire complaining how difficult it is to maintain the empire? And how they do it for the benefit of their subjects and vassals? You poor thing…

U.S. taxpayers of both parties are tired of paying trillions over 70 years for nothing.
Let’s just remember these money went to the US military-industrial complex. Where also the NATO countries are making their contributions …

Playing victim while being the world hegemon (and not a nice one lately) is atrociously ridiculous… Snubbing at your allies that helped you build the empire? Shameful.
Have you heard of the Bosphorus?
Sorry, but this isn’t the Fox News website.
Cheerio.
who wrote this article and what is his main goal- paid by who? who that can not be named
As Stephen Colbert observed, reality has a well known bias.
Advertising
Perhaps best to stick at teeth and hair.
Reminds me that I'm overdue a trip to Turkey
And inflation
Some dark forces are hard at work discrediting Turkey.
Anybody wants to guess ?
Iran ?
It isn’t hard to discredit them. Why would you build a missile and advertise it as capable of hitting USA - when both you and them are part of NATO. Is absurd.
I guess AI hallucinations can become a go to excuse
Always love to see an ally promoting this
That’s what happens when you eat too much Döner kebab!
North America is the home of wild turkeys. And they hate being associated with the bird!
Everyday, things in the Middle East seem to be spiraling toward more chaos, violence and destruction. I wonder what's at the center of it all.........
It could be easy money from oil? When you don’t have to work hard for the money, it could be easier to spend it on wars, religious conflicts, awesome but strange buildings and projects? But this money may be gone in a generation, as the customers are forced to find other solutions as you can’t trust an untrustworthy supplier.
Well Professor, if you knew any history, you would know that it has been ever thus.
Replace Middle East with USA and your comment would still be correct.
Sheer Incompetence!
Was that Aİ generated on a potato server ? I’ve seen better graphics back in the 90s ffs
(Edited)
Hahaha it is true. Even Duke Nukem was better.
Defence promo material always has to look terrible. It’s a military tradition.
It would have been more “humorous” to show strikes on the (redacted) country in their promotional video
Too dangerous. Tacos aren’t kosher.
Yip really funny to show nuclear attacks on a nation - Israel - that has experienced an actual genocidal attack in our living memory.
Turkey should focus on investing in their own people and not make the same mistake of Iran using their money on non-necessary military instead.
It was Israel, and not Turkey, by defeating Hezbollah, that made the end of the Syrian Civil War possible.
Turkey instead of threatening Israel which does it no good, should become friendly with Israel, save their money for investing in their own capital development.

Hezbollah needs to be defeated, stopping the Iranian funding, and Lebanon and Syria should be joining The Abraham Accords to advance their nation's standard of living.
Friends do not bomb their neighbours and commit genocide.
Iran is no friend and they have been prevented from getting nuclear weapons to prevent yet another genocide of the Jews.

But other than that - great post.
The link between the current attack and the aim you cite is non-existent (indeed it’s worse than that - this is likely to convince many that they do need nuclear weapons).
The Hizb barely had 5k fighters in Syria at the height of the war and based on battle field performance they were abysmal.

It was the Iraqi militias and the Assad Army that nearly won the war by 2020. The withdrawal of the Iraqi militias in 2023, before Gaza, and the economic collapse in 2023 and 2024 finished Assad.

Israel had nothing to do with the Assad regime collapse.
When NATO has been formally disbanded and the Europeans have become masters of their own security and defense (inside ten years but hopefully closer to five), the Europeans would do well to keep Turkey in the fold. And Canada. We will see how the American yahoo contingent feel about how they should behave after that. All hat and no cattle, as they say in Texas.
Turkey constantly threaten Greece, a NATO country.
Thankfully they won't. The EU is already complicated enough with 27 members without bringing in a relatively large autocratic muslim country fond of interfering in other countries affairs. However, they will undoubtedly forge pragmatic defence ties and buy large amounts of their kit.
Turkey has the same interests as Europe and keep Russia out.
Don’t forget highest grossing movie series of all time in Turkey was 2000s and 2010s series about Turkish special forces fighting US military in fictional confrontations. I doubt this “AI video” was an accident.
They want the Caliphate back and rule again.
Finally, someone made use of the Metaverse graphics engine.
Why would NATO’s 2nd largest army target the US mainland?, strange titel
The nominal range of 6,000km would not allow it to hit Washington, DC, but it could hit Moscow or Beijing.
You, my man, WILL start WW3! 😂
Love that last sentence. I’ve always wondered what 600 divided by 6,000 is.
Cut it down now
Not sure why the Turks would tout that they have an ICBM that could hit America, one of their allies?
Using the term of "ally" to describe the relationship between Trumpbekistan and any other country is no longer appropriate.
💯
Unless you are Netanyahu
They frequently threaten to attack another NATO member, so why not?
These guys are gonna be trouble before the 2050s I reckon
Anyone who studied the fall of Constantinople will know the Turks had the biggest guns
I mean ex-PM Naftali Bennett recently just said that Türkiye is the new Iran, after Iran. Since Israel is our greatest ally, for all of the collective west, then it means it must be true and we should take heed.
it is worth recalling that Turkey's foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, has recently warned that Turkey is very likely to be Israel’s "next enemy"

This statement was issued in the context of a call for a Middle East security pact amid rising tensions between Turkey and Isreal where trade between the two has been reduced to over US$7 billion per annum to zero in the space of two years. The Turkish foreign minister’s precise words were: "After Iran, Israel cannot live without an enemy – it has to develop a rhetoric to shape public opinion." Indeed, he went on to say that "We see that not only Netanyahu’s administration, but also some figures in the opposition – though not all – are seeking to declare Turkey the new enemy."

This comes on the heels of former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennet’s recent comments – see Link A - that describe Turkey “as the new Iran”.


Turkey has, since the 12-day war against Iran in 2025, been worried about Israel’s new role as a regional hegemon. This anxiety was bolstered by prime minister Netanyahu’s success in persuading a reluctant US administration into forming a tag team to wage the current war against Iran in 2026. Israel’s leverage over US decision-making is clearly a burden for President Erdogan – see Link B. Turkey had been worried about the destructive war of attrition against Iran and the ways in which the war has reorganised the balance of power in favour of Israeli interests.

As the Middle East’s primary Sunni and Shia powers, Turkey and Iran have a theological divide. But Turkey and Iran also have a pragmatic modus vivendi based on non-interference in each other’s affairs: a policy that has endured since the 17th century.


Their shared border has remained unchanged since the 1639 Ottoman-Safavid accord. Turkey is concerned that Israel wants to see fragmented and unstable states in Syria, Lebanon, and Iran, a non-existent Palestinian state, and a weakened Turkey. Isreal also wants to see a weak Saudi Arabia, Oatar, Oman etc that is coercively weaned off links with their main trading partner, China, and a diminished role for the BRI, BRICs and SCO initiatives that have proliferated across the Middle East. Turkey, on the other hand wants a unified, stable and Turkish-aligned Syria, a stable Lebanon with strong central authorities and limited autonomy for minorities like the Kurds. Indeed, tensions came to head in 2025 when Israeli warplanes bombed a site in Syria – see Link C – that Turkey had earmarked for a Turkish military base.


These heightened tensions come on the back of the report by the Nagel Committee – see Link D - appointed by the Israeli government in 2025 which indicated that Israel should prepare for a potential conflict with Turkey, citing Turkey's "Ottoman-era influence" ambitions and support for regional proxies. In response, Turkey is actively constructing its first national aircraft carrier - see Link E - known as MUGEM (Milli Uçak Gemisi), aiming to bolster naval power and regional deterrence amid rising tensions with Isreal.



The 60,000-tonne vessel, scheduled for completion in 2026-2027, is designed to be larger than France's Charles de Gaulle, featuring a flight deck for unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) and manned jets.

One should expect the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East to become more fragmented and complicated as the US seeks to position Isreal as the dominant regional hegemon.

Adding an ICBM to Turkey’s arsenal might be a prudent move.
Even more prudent will the impending membership of the Pak-Saudi defence pact. What a military alliance THAT’LL be then!

P.S. israel’s ‘next’ will be, and always was, Pakistan. But that is where the 🥳 FINALLY ends!
Some very insightful points. However I think you ascribe an overly benign attitude to Turkey’s leaders, particularly with regard to the Kurds.
My theory: according to my vibes research, 99% of videos promoting (and exaggerating) the capabilities of ballistic missiles are produced by North Korea, so it is natural that an AI generated video will pick up something from that training material, including the map images of the targeted country, USA.
Must be planning to sell them to Iran.
Good of the Turks to put their NATO "allies' on notice...
After ‘Greenland’, everything is game..
Whether it's real or not good for them. Ain't no one gonna defend you no matter how special your relationship is.

The UK sacrificed it's domestic ICBM capabilities in the 60s, it's supersonic fighter jets in the 70s, it's helicopters in the 80s, it's AFV in the 90s and it's own battle rifles in the 2000s.
Its, its, its, its, its. Whither English??
Pedant of the Day award. Congratulations.
Turkey unveils new ICBM — touted as able to hit the US mainland
Why would turkey want to do that?
Because a number of American politicians and media moguls all of a sudden are saying Turkey is a threat to the US after the entire political class of a certain country in the middle east said so in a "US Security Conference" attended by said American politicians and held in that country.
The missile was developed “all of a sudden”?
(Edited)
No but the writing on the wall since Obama 2 was that the US is not a friend of Turkey and will do it's best to help Turkey's enemies even if they were recognized terrorist organizations like the PKK.

It took the fall of Assad for the marching orders to American politicians to come from that country.
I don’t think Obama said any such thing.
Türkiye might have been admitted to NATO in 1952, but even as they have been smiling with Europe and the Americas, they have also been fiddling with the other hand as Shanghai Cooperative Organization dialogue partners, for the opposing cabal, since at least 2015, and continue to audition for formal membership. Like other purported "friendly nations" doing the same, they need to be asked to reject these SCO ambitions, or loose their security clearance and trading status, whether that's NATO membership (Türkiye), or favored defense client state (we see you Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Qatar, UAE, Bahrain). These countries really can't be trusted if they are seeking to be playing for both teams at the same time. They definitely shouldn't be getting the latest hardware and software until there is a determination on where they stand.
In English, the country’s name is Turkey. Otherwise you’ll need to talk about Deutschland, and you’ll need to learn Chinese to write China’s name.
“These countries can’t be trusted”Yeah, I think we’ve all seen enough how trustworthy and reliable the USA is as a NATO partner. If Turkey is pursuing its own alliances to complement NATO, that’s a smart strategy and clearly, as we’ve seen, it’s in their own interest.
... and Turkish officials later admitted a working prototype of the Yıldırımhan had yet to be built for full testing.
I have a fusion power generator in my home, it's really compact and saves me a fortune. Just need to mention, a working prototype of the fusion generator has yet to be built for full testing.
Best of luck! I would love to invest my retirement savings in your venture as an angel investor.
While a working prototype of my time machine has not yet been built, I can confirm this guy gets his fusion generator off the ground.
Thanks for a good laugh, you've nailed it perfectly.
Marketing is designed to attract your targeted demographic
What a weird and horrible video.
Perhaps Turkey could sell these to Europe, since the US has paused shipments of long range missiles.
After they are developed.
Don't hold your breath...
I am a Yogi.
I wonder if this is related to the current drumming up of propaganda by a country starting with "I" that Turkey is their next target? Lots of op-ed washing by the usual suspects putting this into the water lately.
... never trust the Irish XD
(Edited)
What make a nation turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power?
No potatoes
Let me guess … India 😄
There is an Indian - UAE- Israel axis which is reasonably well formed.
Israel is a reliable partner that comes to their friends aid regardless of what others think.

During the 1971 war with Pakistan, it was Israel that come to India's aid when other countries refused to help. India does not forget that. Now Israel and India have joint partnerships for weapons production, as one example.

When the Iranians targeted their fellow Muslims, the UAE, with missiles and drones it was the UAE that asked Israel for help, Israel sent an Iron Dome anti-missile battery along with dozens of IDF troops to man the battery. Israel also sent to the UAE laser weapons to shoot down the Iranian drones.
What about Ukraine then?
All face potentially nuclear threats from that other group of “I” nations. It’s a rough letter to bear.
Indonesia. Ireland. Iguana island.
Iceland.
That is enough watering. Who would target such a peaceful and beautiful place? Oh, I spaced out.
Indiana
I believe it was a statement made by an establishment figure, not anything conspiratorial, it was a published statement..
Ok, then target I, not USA, Duh
What did Iceland do to irk Turkey?
Just a few days ago the FT published an article that the EU is about a decade away from their own ballistic missile.
Probably 2 decades. 1 decade to decide, 1 decade to build it.
M51 goes brrrr
(Edited)
What are you talking about?

The French for one have had intercontinental ballistic missiles for decades.
They obviously don't know what they're talking about. The article they're referring to is about deep precision strike missiles which are a completely different technology.
Tomahawk equivalents, not ICBMs.
(Edited)
Truly insane. Even Erdogan can’t be as crazy as this, there is something strange going on when a non-sensical provocation like this comes along. For a more realistic assessment of Turkey’s missiles and cruise missiles capabilities see the very recent analysis by The International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) - https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/missile-dialogue-initiative/2026/04/turkiyes-missile-odyssey/ - There are plenty of nuts around in Turkey as there are some willing to be bought off (see the incredible penetration of Iran by a foreign intelligence services). I am not pointing any fingers at anyone but just when voices in the EU like Ursula Von Der Leyen put Turkey in the same camp as Russia and China as a threat to Europe this stupidity comes along. In the meantime with others touting Turkey as the “new Iran” this sort of brazen idiocy makes no sense other than a brazen provocation which no rational mind in Ankara should display. The ball is in Ankara’s court, should be an easy one to fend off…one hopes.
(Edited)
Good for Turkey, they are in a regime where invasions, subversion and regime change wars are commonplace, just look at defenceless Lebanon and the occupation they're facing - it's natural that Turkey wants to avoid that fate
They have inflcted exactly the same on the Kurds.
Maybe go and read a few history books, it's the other way round. They are a regime that practices illegal occupation (Cyprus).

Not good for it's people, but then again neither is Putin or trump.
Must be the same AI software that showed Trump as Jesus with a backdrop of warplanes bombing what is presumably Iran.
The Mullahs have got the Madman by the short and curly.
We have to live with our illusions. Indeed, we need our illusions.
Surely the point is that if it does indeed have the range then it could be bought or acquired legitimately or otherwise by States that do indeed wish to hit America, such as Iran. The wisdom of the likes of Turkey producing such weaponry is thus very questionable and dangerous to the security of Europe and America.
acquireded
Spelling?
FT
Thank you. That's fixed.
Soon everyone will have their own missiles, even Greenland.
Penguins too?
Maybe once those scoundrels settle up their tariffs! Send Ron Vara to collect!
Good start
Start? "... a working prototype of the Yıldırımhan had yet to be built for full testing." It's just a dream or PR at this stage.
Strange headline. It almost sounds intentionally provocative. Why would Turkey ever target the U.S. mainland? That assumption makes little strategic or logical sense.
You never know…
You never know.
You never know..
Maybe their customers are interested.
Until it happens, you never know.
You never know.
Well the US could do with a bit of democracy, as they'd say when they launch an invasion of somewhere.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
America has threatened Europe several times in the last year and also proven itself to be capable of being the belligerent in an unjust war, despite that having destabilized the global economy. We can’t say that about China, can we? So there’s your answer. Everyone now needs to defend themselves against radicalized conservatives.

Turkey isn’t going to attack America. Nobody in Europe is. But they are going to make very certain that America won’t attack them. This is why Iran now actually needs nukes. Israel and the USA need to be forced to face the prospect of mutually assured destruction in order to force them to desist in their belligerence.
Yes. Turkey is a model citizen. What with their electoral autocracy, freedom of speech, no conflict at all with Greece, and definitely not ethnically cleansing.
And Iran is even worse in terms of democracy. Yet it is hard to argue this was the reason for the attack from the US - two month after the start of the war the administration has yet to spell out its war aims. Further, democracy had little to do with the US project for an invasion of Greenland.

It is therefore unsurprising that democrats and autocrats alike aim for deterrence. Not because they are morally better than any potential aggressor, but because they would rather live than die.
That's how manufacturing consent works.