Turkiye's booming defence industry

Al Jazeera

17-03-2025

Turkiye has always placed a premium on its defence, initially buying then developing its own weapons.
The owner of NATO's second-largest standing army has also emerged as a notable weapons exporter, with some iconic products on the international market.
Turkiye's exports increased year on year to reach $7.1bn in 2024 – from $1.9bn a decade prior – with customers across Europe and the Middle East.
What's behind this growth? What are Turkiye's capabilities? And why is it important? Here's what we know:
When did Turkiye move to domestic production?
Turkiye has sought military self-sufficiency for a while, a gradual process that saw it establish the Defence Industry Development and Support Administration Office (SAGEB) in 1985.
For years, SAGEB focused on international collaboration in research and development. But as Turkiye came up against restrictions on what weapons it could purchase and how it could use them, that switched to local production.
In the 2010s, it switched focus to domestic design, resulting in a huge increase in domestic defence production.
Today, thousands of Turkish defence manufacturers span land, air, and naval capabilities, which is being increasingly recognised internationally.
Have you heard about Turkish drones?
Perhaps the most famous Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is the iconic Bayraktar TB2, first deployed in 2014, one of the most widely purchased Turkish defence products.
There are several others, however, including the medium-altitude long-endurance Anka-S, which has a payload of 200kg (441lb), and the Vestel Karayel tactical UAV with a 70kg (154lb) payload.
The country is also working on its 'Steel Dome' (Celik Kubbe), described as a system that, augmented by AI, can identify and intercept any airborne threat.
Additionally, work is ongoing on the first domestic fifth-generation fighter, the Turkish KAAN, which aims to replace aging American F-16s in the Turkish Air Force.
What else is in Turkiye's catalogue?
On the ground, Turkiye's armoured vehicle production is spearheaded by the Altay main battle tank, designed to rival Western models such as the German Leopard or the US Abrams.
The army also has a mine-resistant vehicle, the Kirpi (Hedgehog), widely used in counterinsurgency operations, as well as modern infantry fighting vehicles like the FNSS Defence Systems' Kaplan and the Pars.
There's also naval production, with MILGEM (Milli Gemi Projesi, or the National Ship Project), which was set up in 2004 to produce the next generation of Turkish naval class ships.
MILGEM has produced state-of-the-art Ada-class corvettes and Istanbul-class frigates, with plans for more advanced warships and submarines.
Most remarkable is the amphibious drone-carrying assault ship, the TCG Anadolu, the largest ship in the Turkish navy, which was deployed in 2023.
Finally, there's a long list of smart munitions, air defence systems, and missiles, such as the Bora short-range ballistic missile and the long-range Atmaca (Hawk) missiles.
Why the interest in arms manufacturing?
Turkiye's push to develop military hardware can be said to be as much a result of outside forces as internal drivers.
In the mid-1970s, the United States put an arms embargo on Turkiye over its military intervention in Cyprus.
In the early 1990s, Germany instituted an export ban on arms to Turkiye, saying armoured cars it sold to Turkiye had been used domestically when the contract had specified they could only be used against an attack by a non-NATO state.
Then in 2020, the US sanctioned Turkiye over its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defence system, by which time Turkiye was already established as an arms manufacturer.
Today, there are about 3,000 weapons companies in Turkiye.
So how much is Turkiye exporting?
Exports have increased so they now comprise 1.7 percent of global arms exports, putting the country in 11th place for the period from 2020 to 2024 in the ranking of the world's defence exporters, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
According to monitors, during the last year, Turkiye's exports reached 178 countries, marking a 103 percent increase compared with 2015-2019.
Its main customers in the 202-2024 period were the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Qatar, according to SIPRI.
As for its most famous export, the Bayraktar medium-altitude long-endurance drone has reportedly been exported to at least 31 countries, including Iraq, Ukraine, Kenya, Bangladesh and Japan.
Last year, its manufacturer Baykar announced the investment of $300m in developing its own jet engines, aiming to take on more component production and avoid international supply chain challenges.
It aims to develop an in-house engine for its Akinci drone, then a turbofan engine for Kizilelma, an unmanned air-to-air combat vehicle that is under development. So far, both use Ukrainian engines.