As far as success stories go, this one is very special.
Over 3,500 defence companies exporting more than 230 products to about 170 countries, an increase in defence exports from US$4.4 billion in 2022 to US$5.5 billion in 2023, an over 80% localization rate in the sector, a 21.6% jump in aerospace and defence exports in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023; the numbers are strikingly impressive, but what is even more remarkable about the growth of the Turkish indigenous defence industry is the resilience it has shown in the face of adversity.
The sanctions under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) that the U.S. imposed on Türkiye in 2020 following its procurement of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system posed a major challenge for Ankara. So did Canada’s decision in the same year to suspend the export of drone technology.
The sanctions worked, but not in the way Türkiye’s North American NATO allies thought it would. As the U.S., Canada and the rest of the world watched, the country’s domestic defence industry went into overdrive, bringing its technological prowess and collective will to the fore and producing state of the art weapons that have made waves internationally. A case in point – the Bayraktar TB-2 military drone, which has been exported to more than 35 countries so far, was so successful in the early days of the Russia-Ukraine conflict that it even inspired a Ukrainian folk song aptly titled “Bayraktar.”
Dominant Global Player
Military drones are just one part of the Turkish defence industry’s meteoric rise. Türkiye’s defence industry now possesses the capability to design, produce, modernise, and export a wide array of conventional arms and equipment, including naval platforms, armoured vehicles, missiles, defence
electronics, and electronic warfare systems. Once a major arms importer, Türkiye in 2023 became the world’s 11th largest exporter of defence products, with its revenue from arms exports touching a record US $5.5 billion. The country still imports defence equipment, but primarily subsystems and components.
Individual successes add extra sheen to the country’s seemingly unstoppable growth. Türkiye now has five companies – Aselsan (42), Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) (50), Roketsan (71), Machine and Chemical Industry (MKE) (84), and Military Factory and Shipyard Enterprise (AFSAT (94) in the Defence News Top 100 list of global defence firms. Significantly, all the firms improved their position from last year. Across regions, the appetite for Turkish defence products is on the rise, mainly due to companies being able to offer high quality weapons at competitive prices.
“The overt and covert embargoes that Türkiye has faced have accelerated the process of localization and nationalisation in critical technologies,” says STM General Manager Özgür Güleryüz. “Today, thanks to determined and sustainable policies, the localization rate in the defence industry has surpassed 80%. What sets the Turkish defence industry apart from other countries is its capability to provide customised and flexible engineering solutions tailored to specific needs.”
Ideal Platform
SAHA Expo 2024 provides Türkiye’s indigenous defence industry a well-deserved opportunity to pat itself on its back, and a chance to showcase before a global audience the massive strides it has made in recent years. There is a sizable number of international firms at the event, but over the next few days, the spotlight will remain on homegrown companies as they display products and capabilities that have been exported to as many as 170 countries in all regions, many of them in the thriving Middle East and Southeast Asia markets.
The country’s indigenous defence industry is now riding a wave of momentum, one generated by a heady mix of soaring international sales, launch of groundbreaking products, and increased investment in R&D. As in any journey, there will be headwinds down the road – The International Institute for Strategic Studies cites new market competitors and an increasing rate of ‘brain drain’ as challenges – but then, at least in the defence realm, no one seems to know better than Türkiye how to turn crisis into an opportunity
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