Türkiye's defense and aerospace industry exports reached $8.5 billion this year, the country's defense industries chief hasannounced.
Türkiye's Defense Industries Secretary Haluk Görgün spoke at the seventh Defense Industry Meetings, organized by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (İSO) and SAHA Istanbul, to contribute to the national and domestic structure of Türkiye's defense industry, bringing together different segments of the sector.
The defense sector’s international sales have soared dramatically over the past two decades. Exports, which stood at just $248 million in 2002, surpassed the $1 billion threshold for the first time in 2011. The industry’s overseas sales, exceeding $3 billion in 2019, reached $7.15 billion in 2024.
While only 62 defense projects were carried out in 2002, today this number increased approximately 21 times and reached over 1,300.
Five Turkish companies — Aselsan, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ), Baykar, Roketsan and MKE — secured places in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) 2024 ranking of the world’s top 100 arms-producing and military services firms.
Speaking at the event in Istanbul, Turkish defense giant Roketsan's CEO Murat İkinci stated that the external dependence rate of the Turkish defense industry fell to 20 percent, from around 80 percent.
Responding to a question about the export target for the defense sector next year, Murat İkinci said, "I think it would be accurate to say that it will exceed $10 billion. It's constantly increasing. This year it increased by over 30 percent, and we frankly want to maintain a similar rate next year as well."
Deputy Minister of National Defense Musa Heybet underscored that Türkiye has now secured a distinguished position in the defense industry by developing indigenous systems across air, land and sea platforms.
He noted that unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Bayraktar TB2, AKINCI and ANKA have not only enhanced the operational capabilities of the Turkish Armed Forces but have also emerged as game-changing platforms on a global scale.
Highlighting progress in air defense, Heybet pointed to systems including KORKUT, HİSAR-A, HİSAR-O and SİPER, which together form a layered and domestically developed air defense architecture.
Turning to naval capabilities, Heybet stressed that the MİLGEM project — through the development of corvettes and frigates — has elevated Türkiye’s national shipbuilding capacity to a new level.
“These projects are realized as products of a deeply integrated supply ecosystem, encompassing radar, weapon systems, combat management systems and platform subcomponents,” he said. “Today, MİLGEM has also become a brand with significant export potential.”
