Türkiye's Defense Industry Transformation and Global Impact Analyzed

ASLIHAN ALTAY KARATAŞ ANKARA - In the analysis of the Presidency, it was determined that "Turkey's domestic and national defense industry products have become important elements affecting war strategies and geopolitical balances on a global scale today."

The file of the month in the "History of the Month" magazine of the Directorate of Communications was devoted to the development of the Turkish defense industry. In the analysis titled "Global Perception of the Turkish Defense Industry in the Turkey Century", attention was drawn to the strategic transformation experienced in the defense industry, the export successes achieved with domestic and national production policies, and how the expanding sector ecosystem appeared in global indices. The transformation story of Turkey, which is the 9th largest military power in the world in international rankings and has the 2nd largest land army in NATO, especially with its success in UAV / UCAV technologies, aviation projects and naval systems, was revealed with data.

Exported to 185 countries

Director of Communications Burhanettin Duran said in his editorial: "The Turkish defense industry has been undergoing a total structural transformation in the last quarter century, under the leadership of our President, with dimensions of technology, economy and international relations beyond military modernization. The strongest element behind this transformation is undoubtedly domestic and national production policies." Emphasizing that Turkish defense products are exported to 185 countries and 230 product types are actively used around the world, Duran gave the message: "The fact that 57 percent of the sector's exports (approximately 6.24 billion dollars) are made to NATO allies shows the strength of Turkey's strategic and industrial partnership within the alliance."

Country that develops critical technologies

In the analysis, it was stated that Turkey, which has met a significant part of its defense needs through foreign procurement for many years, has become a country that develops its own platforms, systems and critical technologies with the domestic and national production policies implemented since the 2000s. While it was pointed out that defense and aerospace exports, which were 248 million dollars in 2002, grew 45 times on an annual basis and reached 11.2 billion dollars as of July 2026, "The number of companies operating in the field of defense and aviation was 56 in 2002, reaching approximately 4,500 in 2026. In the same period, the number of defense projects increased from 62 to over 1,400. "The project volume, which was approximately 5.5 billion dollars in 2002, has reached a size of over 100 billion dollars."