Turkey’s ASELSAN, TAI rank among world’s largest defense firms

ANKARA

Turkey’s leading defense companies have risen on a list of the world’s top 100 defense giants, compiled by the prestigious U.S. weekly Defense News, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Turkish Armed Forces Foundation company ASELSAN is ranked 58th in this year’s list, up from 62nd last year.
ASELSAN first entered the list in 2006, when it ranked 93rd. It has risen in the list ever since, and brought in $1 billion in revenue over the past year.

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) ranked 72nd, with more than $886.5 million in revenue, climbing by six ranks compared to last year.

Lockheed Martin topped the list with over $40 billion in revenue, followed by Boeing and BAE Systems with $30.4 billion and $25.3 billion, respectively.

Turkey’s defense industry has gained momentum in recent years with the expansion of local producers and domestic firms introducing new products to the market, contributing to Ankara’s goal of relying more on domestic sources than imported products in military equipment.

The country’s defense industry executive committee approved $5.9 billion in new defense projects in March, $4.5 billion of which will be domestically produced.