Page 12 - SAHA EXPO 2024 - DAY 1

INTERVIEW

We Want to be Number One

Globally in Naval Projects:

STM General Manager

Özgür Güleryüz

In recent years, Turkish defence company further strengthen our position Malaysian Navy. This marks Türkiye’s first
STM has seen its global footprint grow corvette export to the Asia-Pacific region.
significantly, but Özgür Güleryüz, company in naval platforms, unmanned We are also closely following potential
General Manager, has bigger goals in mind. systems, and cybersecurity, ex- naval shipbuilding projects from different

panding our export footprint in parts of the world.
“We have the ambition to become the num-
ber one company globally in naval projects,” key markets such as the Asia- STM was the designer and main contrac-
Güleryüz tells Arun Sivasankaran in an inter- Pacific, the Gulf region, Africa, tor of Türkiye’s first national frigate TCG
view. “We were listed in the Defence News and Europe.” İSTANBUL. Could you provide an update on
Top 100, which ranks the world’s largest the construction of the sixth, seventh, and
defence companies, for three consecutive Edited excerpts from the interview: eighth ships in the MiLGEM programme?
years in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Our primary What is the timeline?
goal is to re-enter this list and rank even What are some of the company’s ongoing
higher. More than 50% of our revenue comes naval programs? As the main subcontractor, we played a
from exports, and our aim is to further key role in the delivery of Türkiye’s first
increase this percentage. In the long term, We have a busy schedule in the field of national corvette project, MİLGEM, with
we aspire to be among the world’s top 50 naval projects. We have delivered the first four Ada Class Corvettes actively used
defence companies. ship of the I-Class Frigates, TCG İSTANBUL, by the Turkish Navy. We are also the main
and the construction of the subsequent contractor and designer of Türkiye’s first
“By the end of the decade, we ships, numbers 6 to 12, is ongoing. national frigate, TCG İSTANBUL, the first

envision STM as a leading Meanwhile, the modernization processes ship of the I-Class Frigate Project, which is
of the Preveze and Gür Class submarines,
a continuation of the MİLGEM Ada Class
global player in defence and which are in the inventory of the Turkish Corvettes.
engineering, recognized for its Navy, are progressing successfully. In TCG İSTANBUL, we succeeded in ex-
advanced technologies, inno- In addition, the construction of two cor- ceeding our targeted 75% localization
vative solutions, and significant vettes based on the Ada Class for the rate, reaching 80%. In continuation of
contributions to both national Ukrainian Navy is continuing in Türkiye, TCG İSTANBUL, it was decided that the
and we plan to deliver the first ship soon.
three additional frigates under the MİLGEM
and international defence sec- In 2024, we signed a contract to build three I-Class Frigate Procurement Project would
tors,” says Güleryüz. “We aim to corvettes (LMS Batch-2) for the Royal be constructed by STM partnership with

12 OCTOBER-22-2024 WWW.GBP.COM.SG/DAILY NEWS