Aselsan Keen on International Collaboration: CEO Ahmet Akyol

Our Bureau - : Sep 26, 2024 - : 2:25 pm

Aselsan CEO Ahmet Akyol says as Türkiye’s leading defence company and a global technology company, “we will be closely monitoring the changing scene, new trends and threats in the global warfare and on the battlefield in the coming years.” Excerpts...

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Excerpts from the interview.

We witnessed the keen interest of lham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, in Aselsan’s products during his visit to the show?

Aselsan is not new to Azerbaijan. We have been here for several years, and we are the main suppliers of military communication and information systems to the armed forces of Azerbaijan. Now we some interest from Azerbaijan in our Aselflir-500 high-performance new generation 15” electro-optical reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting system designed for fixed and rotary wing airborne platforms. Discussions are underway. Azerbaijan is also showing interest in guided munitions such as our Tolun. Tolun can be engaged against soft and hardened multiple targets simultaneously.

What are the key factors that assisted in extraordinary financial performance for the first half of 2024?

We are one of the fastest growing companies in the world. We made a significant leap in the annual “TOP 100 Defence Companies List” of Defense News climbing to 42nd position, up from 47th in the last year’s list. This achievement underscores Aselsan’s strong commitment to global expansion strategy and innovation in the defence sector. We are also investing for future technologies, at the same time we are providing solutions for innovative technologies.

Our vision is to make something better than others in terms of technology. We understand the customers’ needs and we are thoughtful of those needs. We have placed innovation at the center of every single piece of our work as we develop advanced technological solutions in all military domains ranging from deep ocean to the space. Our portfolio of over 500 products, most of which are field-proven, is constantly adapted to changing technology requirements of our customers worldwide in line with their feedbacks. As part of our strategic vision that we name AselsaneXt 2030, we have set a goal to be among the top 30 companies in the world by 2030.

What are the ares of focus for Aselsan?

We are focused on developing new products which will support our global growth and respond to emerging needs that have become increasingly important with the new challenges in the battlefield. Unmanned systems are one of the top priorities. Unmanned aerial vehicles, one of the most notable outputs of the Turkish defence industry in recent years, have attracted considerable attention in the international defence sector. We are one of the top players in enhancing the capabilities of these systems with payloads such as electro-optical reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting systems namely Aselflir-500 and Tolun guided munitions.

You are also investing heavily on air defence technologies.

Aselsan added air defense early warning and command control system (HERİKKS) and air defense radar products to its air defense system solutions, which started with the Stinger joint production program about 30 years ago and continued with the pedestal mounted Stinger (KMS) project. In this sense, Aselsan has achieved the success of providing solutions in this field to the armies of the world, especially the Turkish Armed Forces, by producing complete systems that include the three cornerstones of the air defence system, weapons, sensors and command control.

Our success and ambition in the fields of electronic warfare, radar, and air defence have recently gained the support of our government, leading to the emergence of the Steel Dome concept, with Aselsan at its core. The focus of the Steel Dome will be on developing infrastructures that will ensure the real-time and integrated operation of the systems involved in air defence. With its strong presence in this area, Aselsan is receiving significant interest abroad and is signing international sales contracts.

What can we expect from Aselsan in the future?

We are expanding our international business this year. We just added a new country for international offices. We are focusing on international collaborations for our future with countries, especially in Middle East and the central Asia and in the East Europe and Africa and also in East Asian countries. Collaborations and joint ventures are the key. Building technology together is our policy. We are always open to making something together locally.

We have set a strategic roadmap for our technological improvement. Just to name a few of the future technologies we invest on, I can mention quantum computing. We are making long-term investments in quantum computing with the laboratory we have built in the fields of quantum communication, crypto side, quantum lidar and quantum radar. We are aiming to increase our international presence and marketing activities and value addition for users.
So we are transforming from the Turkish national defence to an international company. We aim to become the third largest defence company in the world by 2030…we now have six years.

Turkiye / Aselsan-ceo-ahmet-akyol /

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