ROKETSAN aims to take its engineering competence in rocket, missile and space technologies to a higher level with artificial intelligence.
ROKETSAN, one of Turkey's important companies in rocket, missile and space technologies, is preparing to integrate artificial intelligence into a wider part of its engineering and technology development processes. The latest statements of ROKETSAN Chairman Faruk Yiğit reveal that the company considers artificial intelligence not only as a technology added to existing products, but as a capability that can transform the development of new generation systems.
Yiğit stated that ROKETSAN wants to continue its leadership in rocket, missile and space technologies with artificial intelligence in the future, and stated that the company aims to be a leading company in artificial intelligence technologies. It was reported that the company currently uses artificial intelligence in some of its products, and that it is planned to increase human contribution with artificial intelligence in the coming period.
Artificial intelligence will not just be a software layer
The critical point in ROKETSAN's approach is that artificial intelligence should not be considered merely as an algorithmic feature added to a particular product.
According to the company's recent statements, it is aimed to use artificial intelligence in a wide value chain, from design processes to production, from testing and verification to logistics, from decision support systems to the defense systems of the future. This approach points to treating artificial intelligence as a technology layer that spans the entire company's engineering processes, rather than a single product or project.
This transformation is especially important in terms of rocket and missile technologies. Development of high performance defense systems; It requires the simultaneous work of many engineering disciplines such as aerodynamic design, structural analysis, propulsion system, guidance, navigation, electronics, software, production and testing.
More intensive inclusion of artificial intelligence in these processes is considered as a tool that can increase the capacity of human engineers in areas such as processing large amounts of engineering data, evaluating design alternatives and analyzing data obtained from test processes.
ROKETSAN's goal is not only to use artificial intelligence
Another striking element in ROKETSAN's statements is that the company does not want to use only externally developed technologies in artificial intelligence.
Faruk Yiğit had previously announced that ROKETSAN aims to go beyond being a company using artificial intelligence and develop original technologies in this field. The company positions artificial intelligence as one of the core competencies of future defense technologies.
This approach also brings to the agenda the issue of domestic algorithms and data infrastructure, which has become increasingly important in the defense industry in recent years. Especially in artificial intelligence applications used in critical defense systems, not only the algorithm itself, but also the data on which the algorithm is trained, the processing infrastructure used, verification methods and the reliability of the system become decisive.
Therefore, ROKETSAN's goal has a broader framework than adding artificial intelligence tools to its existing engineering capabilities.
What can artificial intelligence change in rocket technologies?
The use of artificial intelligence in rocket and missile systems creates a very wide technology pool.
Artificial intelligence on the engineering side; It can be used in processes such as design optimization, analysis of simulation results, comparison of different design alternatives and evaluation of test data. In the production phase, areas such as quality control, analysis of production data and predictive management of maintenance processes stand out.
Processing large amounts of sensor data on the testing and verification side is one of the areas where artificial intelligence can be used. Analyzing data from rocket engines, flight tests, and different subsystems can help engineers detect anomalies or performance changes more quickly.
However, it should be underlined that this does not mean that all of these areas of use are used operationally by ROKETSAN today. The company's statements evaluate a significant part of these within the scope of future technology and competence targets.
Human resources are created with Artificial Intelligence Hackathon
ROKETSAN's artificial intelligence approach is not limited to product development activities. The company also organized an Artificial Intelligence Hackathon to improve its human resources in this field.
While 2,457 applications were received for the hackathon, 1,778 people who met the basic criteria were invited to artificial intelligence workshops before the event. During the three-day training, applied studies were carried out in areas such as large language models, computer vision and autonomous systems. Following the training and evaluation phases, 72 young people participated in the hackathon to develop artificial intelligence solutions on real problem scenarios for 48 hours.
This process points to ROKETSAN's strategy of developing its artificial intelligence capability not only through its existing engineering staff, but also by incorporating new generation technology talents into the company ecosystem.
Faruk Yiğit's statements also emphasize that human resources are in a central position in this transformation. The company focuses on talent that can identify the right problem, bring together different disciplines, and apply artificial intelligence technology to real engineering problems.
Why is artificial intelligence critical in rocket and missile technologies?
One of the main reasons why artificial intelligence is gaining importance in the defense industry is that systems produce more and more data.
During the development process of a modern rocket or missile system, numerous simulations, ground tests and flight tests are carried out. Making sense of the data obtained from these activities directly affects the amount of information engineering teams use in design decisions.
Here, artificial intelligence stands out as a tool that supports engineering decisions and increases analysis capacity when designed correctly, rather than an independent decision mechanism that replaces the engineer.
Evaluating data from different disciplines under the same roof, especially in systems with high complexity, may be one of the most important contributions that artificial intelligence applications can make.
ROKETSAN's existing technology infrastructure is expanding
ROKETSAN's artificial intelligence investment is considered as a new technology layer added to the company's existing rocket, missile and ammunition development infrastructure.
Today, the company works on a wide product family, from air defense systems to cruise missiles, from anti-tank systems to UAV ammunition and space launch systems. While artificial intelligence, unmanned systems and new generation defense technologies were among the prominent topics of the sector at the Eurosatory fair in Paris in 2026, ROKETSAN exhibited many of its new generation systems to international visitors.
The company's recent increase in investments in production and R&D infrastructure forms the physical infrastructure of this transformation. Investments in new R&D and engineering centers, missile integration facilities and production capacity, as well as the inclusion of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence in engineering processes, stand out as parts of ROKETSAN's strategy to expand its technology development capacity in different axes.
Target: A company that develops technology, not just uses it
The main goal revealed by ROKETSAN's latest statements is to make artificial intelligence a part of the engineering culture rather than a technology added later to the company's existing products.
Details regarding which products and at what level this transformation will be implemented in the short term have not yet been shared with the public. However, the fact that the company both invests in human resources in the field of artificial intelligence and announces its goal of spreading artificial intelligence to design, production, testing, logistics and decision support processes shows that the issue is evaluated beyond a separate R&D heading for ROKETSAN.
At a time when competition in rocket, missile and space technologies is shaped not only by the performance of physical systems but also by how fast and efficiently the engineering infrastructure that develops these systems can work, artificial intelligence is expected to take a more central position in ROKETSAN's technology road map.
