how can turkish defense industry continue to grow so rapidly following turkish drones hunt
for the syrian regime's russian-made air defense systems the panzer s-1
or sa-22 greyhound during the idlib campaign in february and following the destruction of around
nine panzer air defense systems at the hands of turkey's unmanned aerial vehicles in libya during
ankara's may intervention in the country the advancement of the country's defense industry has
garnered greater attention in the international arena in fact turkey has gained the attention
of various experts who ponder if turkey might have become the middle east's drone superpower
you probably might agree with this already but the country which continues to make investments
in its growing military sector has set its sights on yet greater ambitions today some even argue
that turkey now rivals the us and the uk as the world's most prolific user of killer drones
most recently professor ismail de mer the president of defense industries of the republic
of turkey tweeted that the company's axing or uav manufactured by turkish aerospace industries
tai has gained new capabilities accordingly axing or uavs have successfully tested a combat
load on f-16 fighter jets mk-81 and mk-82 general purpose bombs with tieber laser guidance equipment
the tieber produced by rocketson is a 2.6 meter long 8.5 ft laser guidance kit that weighs
270 kilograms 595 pounds converting bombs into precision smart weapons using inertial navigation
system ins global positioning system gps and semi-active laser sal the device can successfully
hit a target at a range of 28 kilometers 17 miles releasing a bomb at an altitude of 12 kilometers
using existing technology from the tai anka a turkish medium altitude long endurance drone
the tai axing or which is 12 meters long and 3 meters high when resting on its landing
gear is the manufacturer's largest drone with a payload capacity for mission specific equipment
after recent tests the axing gore became the first turkish uav to be able to deliver
227 kilograms of ammunition with an 89 kilogram warhead fired using laser guidance
meanwhile the akinchi high altitude long endurance combat drones developed by turkey's
baker defense company will also be integrated with the tiber 81 to 82 according to dimmer
while both the axing gore and akinchi are expected to use hgk precision guidance kits
developed by the tube attack defense industries research and development institute turning the
existing 900 kilogram mk 84 general purpose and penetrator bombs into air to ground smart bombs
previously the mam c high explosive and mammal thermobaric variants of mam a laser guided smart
munition system produced by rockets and for uavs light attack aircraft and air ground missions for
low payload capacity were used by the bayrocktar tb2 amale unmanned combat aerial vehicle as well
as anka uavs with the latest tests larger uavs will be able to carry heavier ammunition creating
a whole new concept for turkish air operations while sophisticated military drones are a sign
of turkey's rising ambitions there have also been new developments in turkey's land systems
rockets and recently integrated its trg 230 surface to surface missile with a laser
seeker head and conducted a successful test on its new laser guided missile system the trlg
230 aimed at a reflected laser beam the target was indicated by the bay rocktar tb2 uav
in july rocketson announced that it had put into use trg 230 missiles with a range of 70 kilometers
a precise version of the 230 millimeter 9-inch tr 230 missile which is guided using gps ins
navigation and can be launched from rocket sands tiger multi barrel rocket launcher mbrl weapon
system multi-caliber launcher mcl artillery weapon system as well as other platforms with compatible
interfaces following this on august 30th rocketson released recordings and information on the test
of a new version of the 230 millimeter caliber missile the trlg 230 which can hit moving targets
from the ground increasing its precision via marked by uavs and ucavs technical analyses are
complicated of course but the new generation trlg 230 missiles hitting the target marked by a uav
even though the area of use of the missile is limited with the range and the axing or uavs
delivering combat load of fighter jets to address tiebre's laser guidance have turned turkish drones
into combat aircraft according to experts both have made a significant contribution to turkey's
air force's impact in terms of increasing ammunition carrying capacity and precision
once reliant on weapons supplied by its nato allies especially the us and germany turkey
today knows that it cannot be a regional power without a deterrent military force and that it
cannot maintain its independence without a defense industry over the last decade turkey has spent
billions of dollars developing its defense sector to grow its self-sufficiency in military matters
in the face of its weapons supplying allies unfriendly policies nato allies of turkey have
traditionally chosen to put turkey into a tight corner threatening it with imposing sanctions
as well as prohibiting arms sales however what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger the
turkish local defense industry has now already met 70 percent of the country's military requirements
up from 20 15 years ago in addition turkey is not only taking steps to produce its own
military needs but is also boosting sales to other countries for instance many countries needing
armored vehicles to face new threats such as improvised explosive devices ieds look to turkey
according to reports turkey in 2019 ranked 14th among the world's top arms exporters
turkish local defense companies are today manufacturing four by four six by six and eight
by eight armored platforms battle tanks wheeled or tactical armored vehicles as well as unmanned
land vehicles gun turrets and their subsystems the industry which peaked with the altay main battle
tank has a vast product portfolio including the most remarkable products eight by eight pars six
by six arma four by four cobra etteryal gym and kaplan medium tanks the country's defense industry
also offers high technology and cost efficient solutions in compliance with nato standards to
navies in need of warships auxiliary vessels boats submarines weapons and subsystems etc
turkey's national warship program the milgam project has accelerated the development of the
industry in the areas of sea platform design construction and technological capabilities
local industry is also responsible for modernizing the turkish naval fossil
system and it actively takes part in naval modernization programs of allied nations
the hizar air defense and sam cruz missiles as well as for tina howitzer's are just some of the
outstanding examples of turkish defense industries products turkey's defense revenue was around 1
billion dollars in 2002 today it is worth around 11 billion dollars per year while the country's
arms exports came to only 248 million dollars in 2002 it was worth over 3 billion dollars in 2019
the number of turkish defense companies rose from 56 to approximately 1 500 between 2002 and 2019
there are at least 75 000 employees now working in the country's defense industry
turkey has increased its defense projects to almost 700 today while it had only 66 in 2002
around 350 new projects have been launched since 2015
the budget for defense projects in turkey was about 5.5 billion dollars in 2002
while today this has risen to 60 billion dollars if ongoing tender processes are
included the country's defense project budget has now surpassed 75 billion dollars