• Source:JND
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In a major leap forward in its conventional strike capabilities, Turkey has officially revealed the labeled as the nation's most potent non-nuclear weapon to date. The GAZAP and its counterpart, NEB-2 Ghost (Hayalet), were premiered at the 17th International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul. The rollout is an acute milestone in Turkey's local weapons production programme and has raised eyebrows in India about Islamabad's increasing military relationships with Ankara.

GAZAP Bomb: A New Benchmark In Modern Warfare

Designed by Turkey's Research and Development (R&D) Centre, part of the National Defence Ministry, the GAZAP (Turkish for "Wrath") is an 2,000-pound MK-84 aircraft bomb, designed with a special fragmentation system. Unlike other variants, it has 10,000 precision-engineered particles that can disperse across a 1-kilometre radius of destruction. The bomb produces 10.16 fragments per square metre, which makes it almost three times more deadly than other MK-series bombs in use elsewhere in the world, the project leader Nilufer Kuzulu told. As opposed to conventional free-fall bombs dispersing steel shrapnel indiscriminately, GAZAP simulates a defensive grenade, releasing controlled, high-density fragments for homogeneous damage in an area target. Its thermobaric warhead causes an explosion of fuel-air mixture on contact, producing a shockwave up to 3,000°C, which would be capable of melting metal, concrete, and other hardened structures.

During field tests, the bomb, fired from Turkish F-16 and F-4 Phantom fighter planes was observed creating a huge shockwave that destroyed a 160-metre radius in seconds. Officials say plans are underway to adapt it for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) deployment in the near future, giving Turkey long-range strike capability using its expanding drone fleet.

NEB-2 Ghost (Hayalet): A Deep-Strike Bunker Buster

Also weighing 970 kilograms, the NEB-2 Ghost, also known domestically as Hayalet, is a future-generation penetration bomb designed to attack heavy enemy bunkers, underground areas, and nuclear installations. According to Kuzulu, the bomb can penetrate up to 7 meters of C50-grade reinforced concrete, which is used in key structures such as bridges, viaducts, and nuclear installations. During the recent island trial, the NEB-2 was released from a combat aircraft and penetrated 90 metres of soil and rock before it exploded. This explosion caused landslides, structural failure, and fracturing of geology over the 160-metre-wide test area.

One of the most important aspects of the NEB-2 is delayed detonation. While conventional bombs detonate in 25 milliseconds, Hayalet is set to detonate after a 240 millisecond delay, enabling penetration deep inside before firing, maximizing damage to structures. Turkey asserts that the bomb was capable of penetrating several layers of 25 mm ribbed steel, imitated bunkers, and a 1.5-ton concrete block, and still go on another 600 meters after detonation. The weapon is completely compatible with current Turkish munition kits and aircraft systems, further supporting the modularity of Ankara's weapons infrastructure.

In the immediate run-up to the bomb breakthroughs, Turkey also unveiled the Tayfun Block 4, Turkey's maiden hypersonic ballistic missile designed by Roketsan. Weighing 2,300 kilograms and being 6.5 metres long, the missile is said to have a range of 800 kilometres and can apparently have high-speed agility for defensive strike missions. Collectively, the GAZAP, NEB-2, and Tayfun Block 4 are part of Turkey's nascent strategy to position itself as an independent defence force and increase its presence in the global defence market.

Turkey-Pakistan Defence Nexus Grows, Alarms India

While the technological leap itself is significant, India's strategic interest arises from the increasing defence co-operation between Pakistan and Turkey. Though both regimes officially rule out indirect weapons deliveries, Indian defense sources have authenticated the deployment of Pakistani Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones in recent border skirmishes on the LoC during Operation Bunyan al-Marsoos. Notably, Pakistan and Turkey agreed to boost their cooperation in a range of sectors, including defence, trade, energy and infrastructure, aiming to enhance bilateral trade volume to USD 5 billion. This was agreed during talks between Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defence Minister Yasar Guler with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

Ankara's political and military tilt toward Islamabad has also intensified on the diplomatic side. During the border conflict of May 2025, Turkey openly sided with Pakistan's stance on Kashmir in the United Nations and other multilateral forums. But collaborative defense initiatives or technology sharing may ultimately provide Pakistan access to bombs such as GAZAP or bunker-busters such as NEB-2. These weapons, if used by Pakistan, would greatly improve its conventional strike capability, particularly in mountainous or bunker-rich areas like Siachen, Drass, or the Line of Control.

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As per ex-Army Vice Chief Lt Gen Ramesh Kandwal (Retd), "A thermobaric weapon like GAZAP would be ruinous if employed against fixed military positions or logistic positions in high-altitude regions. If Pakistan gains access to even a scaled-down version, the strategic balance would shift." India is reportedly following these developments very closely and has already launched internal evaluations of prospective countermeasures, such as amplified bunker-hardening, thermobaric-resistant construction, and precision air defense systems along exposed sectors.

A Strategic Shift Just Below the Nuclear Threshold

While not considered Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), thermobaric and bunker-buster bombs exist in a twilight zone just below nuclear-grade weapons. They are legal under international law, unless deployed on civilian targets, but their use is very controversial. Used historically by the United States in Vietnam and Iraq, and more recently by Russia in Ukraine, these bombs have a reputation for intense overpressure and heat effects within enclosed spaces resulting in suffocation, burning, and utter structural failure.

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With GAZAP and NEB-2 having been cleared for operational deployment, Turkey is positioning itself as one of the handful of countries that possesses an upgraded thermobaric and deep-strike bomb inventory. With its drone warfare capabilities and hypersonic missile aspirations, Ankara is quickly becoming a central force in non-nuclear deterrence capability.