Turkey receives $11 billion in orders for defense industry

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

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Turkey’s defense industry received $11 billion in orders in 2014, according to a report by the Defense Industry Manufacturers Association (SaSaD) on Aug. 21.

The sector has achieved an average annual growth rate of 21 percent for the last five years. 

Many of the orders since 2005 have come from the Turkish Armed Forces, in line with the development strategies of the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries of Turkey, according to Nail Kurt, the chairman of the Turkish Defense Industries Exporters’ Association.

“The lion’s share in the sector growth comes from domestic projects, but domestic projects should not be expected to continue increasing. Export and international cooperation projects will therefore determine the sector’s future growth,” Kurt told Anadolu Agency.

A major $6.9 billion order came for aircraft parts in 2014. The Turkish defense aviation industry is involved in a number of major international joint design and production programs, such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and A400M Large Transport Aircraft.

Another major $2.6 billion order was for a wide range of tracked and wheeled armored vehicles, which are configured as personnel carriers, reconnaissance vehicles, communication vehicles, command and control vehicles, ambulances or platforms for various weapons.

Overall industry revenue reached over $5.1 billion in 2014, an increase from $5.07 billion in 2013. The industry’s export capacity was nearly $1.9 billion last year, up from $1.6 billion in the previous year. The defense industry also imported over $1 billion in technology products from abroad.

Turkey aims to have defense companies among the top 100 major companies in the world, and to create at least three global brands in the defense sector. Ankara spent over $1 billion on defense, research and development in 2014, making defense the sector with the largest research and development investment in the country.