Türkiye’s defense exports increased by 29 pct in 2024: Official

Türkiye’s defense exports increased by 29 pct in 2024: Official

Serkan Demirtaş - ANKARA
Türkiye’s defense exports increased by 29 pct in 2024: OfficialTürkiye’s defense exports increased by 29 pct in 2024: Official

The second prototype of the natıonal combat aırcraft KAAN, the ındıgenously produced 5th generatıon fıghter jet project of the turkısh defense ındustry, was seen for the fırst tıme.

Türkiye has increased its annual exports of defense industry products by 29 percent in the year 2024, Defense Industries Presidency head Haluk Görgün has said, informing that the country rose to 11th rank in the list of top arms exporters.

Görgün evaluated the performance of his agency in 2024 and informed the targets set for 2025 at a meeting with Ankara bureau chiefs of the media outlets in the Turkish capital on Jan. 14.

“Our defense industry exports increased by 29 percent compared to 2023 and reached a total of $7.1 billion in 2024,” Görgün said, underlining that thanks to the contracts signed in the past year this figure will soon exceed $10 billion in two years.

Türkiye is now the 11th largest arms exporter in the world, as its products are sold to 185 countries in the world, Görgün informed. There are around 3.500 companies in the defense industry and 1600 of them are exporting their products, he added.

“It is also important to outline the fact that five of the top 10 countries we export our products are European. In addition, we signed most contracts with Europeans,” Görgün said, singling out the export of military vessels to Portugal known for its maritime history as a special success in 2024.

Unmanned drones, smart missiles, land vehicles, military vessels, planes, radars and simulators were the most exported defense industry products in 2024, he stated.

“As an exporter, you should obtain a certain amount technological superiority. You should meet the requirements of the buyer and give confidence. Also, cost effectiveness is important. The Turkish defense industry is advancing as it has proven itself on these three main aspects,” Görgün underlined.

  More engagement with NATO

In 2024, the defense industry agency engaged more with NATO and applied to different NATO projects, Görgün informed.

One of the first visits in 2025 will be to Brussels where Görgün will meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and other senior NATO officials on Jan. 16 to explore ways for more involvement of the Turkish defense sector in the alliance armament projects.

“We will make this trip to explain Türkiye’s production capacity, its progress on the defense industry to our NATO partners,” he stated.

Görgün said they aim to reach out to different markets through new projects and cooperation models in 2025.

Six prototypes of KAAN jetfighter to be built

Another area of priority is to produce engines for all sorts of defense industry products being produced in Türkiye, Görgün said, adding this includes KAAN warplanes and ALTAY tanks. A support mechanism has been established at the defense industry presidency from where the engine producers can benefit, he recalled.

On the production pace of KAAN, Görgün shared the picture of the second prototype of the warplane and informed that six prototypes of the plane will be manufactured in the coming period in order to quicken the testing of the sixth-generation warplane.

The warplanes will be ready for use by the Turkish Armed Forces in the 2030s.