As we jubilantly celebrate the 102nd anniversary of our Victory Day, it is a source of immense pride to witness the evolution and achievements of the Turkish military over the last two decades. In this regard, one area particularly stands out: the defense industry. The evolution of the Turkish defence industry in the recent decades under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become a matter of global attention. Turkey has shifted from importing many of its defense technologies to becoming one of the world’s most prominent exporters in the defense and aerospace industry. With a large number of products in its defense industry portfolio and the significant importance given to R&D and technological advancement, Turkey has emerged as a competent and trusted global player, with over 2000 enterprises, SMEs, research institutes, and universities contributing domestically.

Second largest army of the NATO

Located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Turkey is in fact surrounded by many wars, armed conflicts and instabilities, necessitating strong security forces backed by an advanced defense sector to maintain regional peace and security. As the second largest army of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and one of the biggest defense spenders in the world, Turkey has developed the capabilities to defend itself while sharing this experience and capacity accumulated over the years with its partners and friends around the world.

Over the years, Turkey’s effort towards ensuring her national security as well as the regional peace while fully abiding by the international law have resulted in unfair treatment by certain countries that are the main exporters of defense industry products to Turkey. Although achieving an independent and self-sufficient defense industry has always been a national strategy, the arms embargo imposed by these countries provided an accelerator to push for further efforts to meet the needs of the security units with domestic resources.

Independence of the defense industry

Turkey’s advancements in the defence sector have garnered global recognition, particularly in drone warfare, with Turkish drones like the Bayraktar TB-2 playing pivotal roles in international conflicts. Beyond armed drones, Turkey’s defense industry has made significant strides, now possessing the capability to design, produce, modernize, and export a wide array of core conventional arms and equipment. This includes corvettes, fire support systems, unmanned aircraft systems, gliding munitions for drones, joint-direct attack munitions, various land warfare platforms (excluding main battle tanks), grenade launchers, and tactical anti-material rifles, with varying degrees of domestic input.

To name a few, the state-of-the-art AKINCI Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), ANKA, and the first unmanned fighter jet Bayraktar Kızılelma, along with the Göktürk satellite system, Altay tanks, ATAK and GÖKBEY helicopters, Hürkuş training aircraft, and Fırtına Obus, are just a handful of examples. Turkey’s defense exports have diversified, reaching over 170 countries, with the industry’s project portfolio expanding to include 750 projects by over 1,500 local firms. Despite international challenges, Turkey’s defense spending and industry turnover have seen steady growth, underscoring its emergence as a formidable player in the global defence market.

As a result of efforts toward ensuring the independence of the defence industry over the last decades, Turkey’s foreign military imports decreased from 80 percent in 2004 to around 20 percent in 2023, while arms exports increased by 75 percent from 2018 to 2023 compared to 2013-2017. In 2023, Turkish defence industry exports reached a record-breaking 5.5 billion USD.

Supporting our friends and allies’ defense capabilities

We don’t consider defence industry cooperation merely a type of foreign trade. Supplying friendly countries with affordable, sophisticated, and durable products and solutions benefits our bilateral ties and fosters greater security partnerships. In recent years, Kuwait has emerged as a prime example of this approach. Kuwait’s procurement of Baykar UAVs in 2023 marks the beginning of a new era in the defence sector between Kuwait and Turkey.

Most importantly, during His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s visit to Turkey on May 7, 2024, Turkey and Kuwait signed a Government-to-Government deal, the Implementation Protocol on Government-to-Government Defence Industry Procurement Contracts that laid the foundation for further cooperation. We sincerely believe that the defence sector will be the cornerstone of our brotherly relations with Kuwait.

This article was provided by the Turkish Embassy in Kuwait.