Page 28 - ADT MAY-JUNE 2022 Online Magazine

“THE WORLD HAS NOW COME
TO ADMIT THAT WE ARE A GAME
CHANGER IN SOME AREAS. OUR
SUCCESS TODAY WAS ACHIEVED
THROUGH THE GREAT EFFORTS OF
OUR ECOSYSTEM BY IGNORING
THE NEGATIVITY. AS LONG AS
WE CONTINUE WITH THE SAME
DETERMINATION IT IS EASY TO
BECOME ONE OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT COUNTRIES OF THE
WORLD IN THE FIELD OF THE
DEFENSE INDUSTRY IN 10 YEARS.”
The numbers are strikingly impressive.
According to the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Turkey’s
arms exports increased by 86 per cent in the
2015–19 period compared to the previous five- 2010, it currently has seven, including two of the biggest defence
year period, with the country becoming the 13th
largest arms exporter in the world. During the
period, its share of arms imports decreased by
28 | May/June 2022
[ COUNTRY FOCUS TURKEY ]
48 per cent compared to 2010-2014. The growth of the industry
was even more pronounced in the 2014-2018 period, with arms
exports growing by 170 per cent. While the country had just one
company in the top 100 companies in the global arms market in
contractors in Turkey – Aselsan and Turkish Aerospace Industries
(TAI).
Drones Find Their Target
Turkey’s success has coincided with the defence industry’s focus
on manufacturing new equipment. While armoured vehicles, includ-
ing light armoured vehicles and rebuilt tracked armoured personnel
carriers, and wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, accounted for 52
per cent of the volume of the country’s arms exports in the previous
decade and ships accounted for 30 per cent, sophisticated and
advanced unmanned vehicles made by Turkish defence contractors
have become a weapon of choice for many countries because of
their stellar performance in various conflicts. Even as its armed
drones find takers in all regions, the country is reportedly working
on producing its own supersonic and hypersonic missiles.
“When it comes to drones, Turkey is particularly strong in the
unmanned aerial vehicle as well as armed unmanned aerial vehi-
cle technologies,” says Demir. “Turkey ranks among the top three
countries in the world in armed drones.”
In its attempts to thwart ongoing Russian aggression, Ukraine
has been using Bayraktar TB2 drones to deadly effect against
Russian tanks and armored vehicles, and even against its warships.
According to Baykar Defence, the maker of the combat UAV, TB2
drones, which has been serving in the Turkish Armed Forces and
the armies of allied countries since 2014, have been exported to
16 countries, including Qatar, Libya, Ukraine, Poland, Turkmenistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Morocco and Azerbaijan, so far.
GIVEN THE SUCCESS THE DRONE HAS HAD IN
THE ONGOING CONFLICT, THE NUMBER OF
INTERNATIONAL BUYERS IS LIKELY TO INCREASE
IN THE NEAR FUTURE. "BAYRAKTAR TB2 IS DOING
WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO – TAKING OUT
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