Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Egypt has finalized a $130 million contract to acquire the Turkish-developed TOLGA short-range air defense (SHORAD) system, designed to counter drones, smart munitions, and low-flying aerial threats, according to a press release from Turkish defense manufacturer Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE).
The deal, concluded with the Egyptian Ministry of Defence, marks one of the largest recent exports of a Turkish counter-unmanned aerial system and follows TOLGA’s first confirmed international deployment in Qatar last month.
Developed under an “Effective – Simple – Affordable” design philosophy, TOLGA is intended to address the growing threat of low-cost drones and precision-guided munitions on modern battlefields. The system integrates radar, electro-optical sensors, electronic jamming equipment, command-and-control elements, and multiple weapon systems into a single modular architecture.
TOLGA neutralizes threats through both electronic “soft-kill” and kinetic “hard-kill” methods. In soft-kill operations, hostile drones can be disrupted at ranges up to 10 kilometers using electronic jamming. Hard-kill engagement relies on weapon systems in 12.7 mm, 20 mm, and 35 mm calibers, accompanied by specialized anti-drone ammunition designed to generate fragmentation clouds around targets, increasing the probability of neutralizing small, agile drones. According to MKE, the 35 mm rounds are effective up to 3,000 meters, the 20 mm up to 1,000 meters, and the 12.7 mm up to 300 meters.
The system is capable of operating in manual, semi-autonomous, or fully autonomous modes and can be deployed on fixed installations, mobile platforms, armored and unarmored vehicles, and naval vessels. MKE highlighted this flexibility as a major selling point for international customers seeking layered air defense against drones and other low-altitude threats without relying on costly missile interceptors.
“The consecutive export successes of TOLGA SHORAD demonstrate its proven field performance, sustainable export capability, and strong competitiveness in the global market,” MKE said in its statement.
The acquisition underscores Egypt’s growing focus on modernizing its air defense capabilities, particularly in response to the increasing use of drones in regional conflicts and asymmetric warfare scenarios.
