What it takes to create the future?
For the first time in a long while, I was very happy recently with what I saw on the Twitter’s trending topic list. Finally something other than politics, sports or entertainment news had made it to the top. Kale Holding was at the top because of its recent deal with Rolls-Royce.
Reuters broke the news as follows: Turkey’s Kale Group will set up a joint venture company with U.K.-based engineering firm Rolls-Royce to develop aircraft engines, including for Turkey’s planned TF-X fighter jet, the company said on Monday.
Kale will hold 51 percent stake in the joint venture, while Rolls-Royce will have the rest, the statement said.
Kale said it aimed to develop both civilian and military aircraft engines, including for the TF-X, being developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), one of several major defense projects that Ankara has launched.
In January, Britain and Turkey signed a defense deal worth more than 100 million pounds to develop Turkish fighter jets during a visit to Ankara by Prime Minister Theresa May.
The deal involves BAE Systems and TAI working together on the TF-X, which will be the first Turkish-made fighter jet and will replace the F-16 fighter fleet starting from the 2020s. Kale Group is a provider of structural components, assemblies and kits to the aerospace industry.
Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Kale Group ranks among the largest industrial conglomerates in Turkey. Today, Kale Group owns 17 companies with more than 5,000 employees and $1 billion annual sales.
The Kale Group entered the defense and aerospace industry in 1987 and is a tier one supplier for many global defense and aerospace companies - including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Airbus - and is a leading supplier to many important international programs, including the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35) project.
Kale is a major partner in Turkey’s defense and aerospace industries, participating in Turkey’s first National Infantry Rifle and Turbojet engine.
What’s more, Kale is also known for its ceramics production in Turkey, producing a huge amount of tiles for baths and kitchens. So how was a ceramics producer able to make a deal for the future of Turkish fighter jets?
It is all about having a vision and dedication. It takes a good business leader, 60 years of legacy, dedicated R&D teams and countless hours of trial and error. But in the end your company can create both bath tiles and a high-end ceramics for a tank.
The material industry has undergone a huge change in the past 30 years as chemists developed new techniques to refine elements and shape them for new qualities. Ceramics are being used not only in bathrooms but also in jet turbines, car engines, wings of planes, helicopters, super-fast computers, and thousands of different complex machines. Kale not only followed these new developments but contributed to them with research and development. I hope it will keep up its good work, bringing Turkey a step closer to becoming a high technology exporter rather than importer every year.
