Türkiye’s Tactical Networks Rely on Four Different Data Links

Ask which system gives Türkiye a “tactical data link” and you will get several answers, because the job is split across layers. One layer moves voice, data and video between command posts and soldiers on the ground. Another ties aircraft, ships and missiles into a shared picture. A third makes sure Turkish platforms can talk to NATO’s Link 16 grid. Three different companies built the pieces, and they are easy to confuse.

This guide separates them: ASELSAN’s TASMUS field network, Meteksan’s KEMENT data link, ASELSAN’s newer T-Link family, and the STM-led Link 16 interoperability work.

What Is TASMUS, and Is It a Data Link?

Strictly speaking, no. TASMUS, short for Taktik Saha Muhabere Sistemi (Tactical Field Communication System), is a ground communications network. ASELSAN describes its core aim as sharing a near-real-time picture of the battlefield among all combat systems, so that information can be watched at every command level.

It does this with three independent subsystems, according to ASELSAN’s material as summarised by Defence Türkiye magazine. A wide-area subsystem forms the backbone from access points joined by radiolink or fibre. A mobile subsystem puts software-defined handheld and vehicle radios in users’ hands. A local-area subsystem gives each access point Ethernet-based voice and data service. A management system, SİSKON, handles planning, frequency assignment and monitoring.

How Did TASMUS Grow Over Three Decades?

The first-generation system was an ambitious bet for its time. Reporting by AFCEA’s Signal magazine around 2000 put development cost at roughly $110 million and the planned production contract at about $500 million over ten years. That early network used TDMA radios in the 225 to 400 MHz range, an ATM backbone supplied by Netaş, and carried about 380 kilobits per second over the air. Deliveries continued into the mid-2000s, though published sources differ on the exact years.

TASMUS-G, which joined the inventory in 2010, was a different animal. Defence Türkiye magazine reports data capacity rose by roughly eight to ten times, with IP, ATM and ISDN switching, 2, 8 and 34 Mbps radiolinks, and a design compatible with NATO’s TACOMS Post 2000 architecture. The handheld and vehicle radios are software-based, which lets the same hardware carry new waveforms.

The current TASMUS-II generation is fully IP-based and routes both IPv4 and IPv6. Its GRC-5220 tactical IP radiolink is described by ASELSAN as OFDM-based with frequency hopping and 2×2 MIMO, delivering more than 200 Mbps Ethernet throughput and working beyond 100 kilometres in favourable conditions, in point-to-point and point-to-multipoint modes. Treat those figures as manufacturer claims.

Where Does TAYAS Fit In?

TASMUS is not alone at the tactical edge. ASELSAN’s Tactical Local Area Network System, TAYAS, answers a narrower need: giving staff in tented, temporary headquarters access to the Land Forces’ KaraNET services. According to ASELSAN, it uses encrypted wireless devices certified for classified traffic, a capability with limited precedent abroad.

The related “New Mobile System” project with the Ministry of National Defence saw deliveries in August 2017, April 2018 and December 2020. In ASELSAN’s architecture, TAYAS links upward to the strategic TAFICS network, sideways to TASMUS at the tactical level, and out to satellite links. For the space side of that chain, see our overview of Turkish military satellite communication.

What Is KEMENT, and Why Is It Not an ASELSAN Product?

This is the most common mix-up. KEMENT is Türkiye’s first indigenous tactical data link, developed by Ankara-based Meteksan Defence, not ASELSAN. Daily Sabah, reporting on the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) project, says it began in 2005, entered force in 2010 and drew on TÜBİTAK resources.

It is a TDMA-based, encrypted, jam-resistant data link with relay capability, built on a software-defined radio design. The idea is to let platforms trade complex data sets in near real time. Five terminal types were reported for combat aircraft, unmanned aircraft, helicopters and naval vessels, and the system comes in two configurations: a classic tactical data link and a Network Enabled Weapon version meant for munitions that can be updated after launch. Air-to-ground and air-to-air tests reportedly included image transmission between platforms, and Meteksan says performance testing was completed in 2019.

Meteksan markets KEMENT for cruise missiles, fighter jets and corvettes. Analysts also point to its use of national cryptography as a sovereignty argument, set against dependence on a foreign-controlled system.

Why Does Türkiye Also Need T-Link and Link 16?

Because the two jobs differ. Link 16 is the NATO standard, and Turkish F-16s fly with it. Making Turkish platforms genuinely interoperable on it was the point of a contract signed on 20 February 2009 between the then Undersecretariat for Defence Industries and STM. STM used the iSMART process, reviewed more than 125,000 information exchange requirements, reportedly resolved about 65 percent of mismatches, wrote a national Link 16 standard based on NATO specifications and trained around 100 armed forces personnel over 256 hours. STM describes itself as the only Turkish organisation with Link 16 network design know-how.

Link 16 has a drawback for stealthy or sensitive operations. Analysts writing in TurDef argue that it is US-controlled and inherently detectable because it transmits omnidirectionally. That is one argument for a national alternative.

ASELSAN’s answer is the T-Link family, introduced at IDEF 2025. It comes in three main forms: T-Link A for air elements, T-Link C for platforms with tight size, weight and power limits such as unmanned systems, helicopters and ground vehicles, and T-Link M/G for ground, naval and command-centre use. Reports on the launch cite L-band operation, up to 90 watts of RF output, a -40 to +71 degree operating range, MIL-STD-810 and 461 compliance, embedded encryption, relay function and electronic-warfare resistance. ASELSAN has said the family is meant for the kind of engagement where one aircraft’s radar guides another’s missile.

Which Layer Does What?

What Gaps Remain?

The open question is air combat. TurDef notes that connecting KAAN with ANKA-3 and Kızılelma calls for a low-observable intra-flight data link, and that public sources do not confirm the maturity of such a link layer. ASELSAN reportedly uses the designation IVDL for its product in this area, but that remains unconfirmed.

The ground and air layers will also need to meet in larger architectures such as the Steel Dome air defence network, which depends on sensors and shooters exchanging data quickly. For the company behind most of the radios and networks above, see the ASELSAN profile.

Much of the TASMUS detail comes from manufacturer material and trade press rather than government releases, and quantities in service are not public.