Turkish defense exports surge to $7.15B, up 29 percent from 2023
Turkey’s “commitment to self-reliance in defense technology is evident and this trend is set to continue in the coming decade,” one expert told Breaking Defense.
Kaplan MT tanks produced for Indonesia are ready for delivery as the first package of the project will be completed this year in Ankara, Turkiye on March 13, 2022. (Photo by Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
BEIRUT — The Turkish defense sector saw a 29 percent growth in defense exports in 2024, amounting to $7.15 billion, according to President of Turkey’s Defence Industry Agency Haluk Görgün.
“These figures reflect not only an economic success but also the vision of independence in the defense industry that Turkey has written on its own,” Gorgun said in post on X.
He further stated that Turkey is “building a strong defense industry for our friends and allies, and a groundbreaking ecosystem in technology exports for our future. We are working tirelessly for a Turkey that not only produces, but also designs, exports, and builds the future.”
Turkey’s biggest defense exporters include dronemaker Baykar, Turkish Aerospace Industries, ASFAT, armored vehicle producer MKE and ARCA, according to another post on X by Gorgun.
Aselsan said in a statement that it signed export contracts with seven new countries worth $1 billion in 2024, “a record high figure in its history.”
Meanwhile, Baykar made $1.8 billion in revenue from exports, amounting to 90 percent of the firm’s total revenue, according to a statement from the company.
“In 2023, the company ranked among Türkiye’s top 10 exporters, achieving $1.8 billion in exports — a milestone it successfully repeated in 2024, further cementing its resounding success,” Baykar said.
Turkey has been pushing to boost its defense production to decrease dependence on Western nations and firms that might be subjected to embargoes.
“Turkey saw the need for localization of defense innovation/production for strategic reasons and accelerated a campaign to invest in developing critical high-tech equipment encompassing a whole array of highly sophisticated platforms with homegrown weapon systems,” Serhat Süha Çubukçuoğlu, an expert at Trends Research & Advisory in Abu Dhabi, told Breaking Defense today.
The upsurge in defense exports could be due to “Turkey’s localization of strategic industries including defense and Turkey’s economic instability and relatively small market size that prompts defense firms to aim entry into foreign markets,” he said. “It helps Turkey to earn much needed foreign-currency denominated revenues to plug budget deficits, service foreign debt, and re-invest in R&D. With a wider portfolio of clients the defense sector receives more demand and becomes financially more sustainable.”
Çubukçuoğlu highlighted that while Turkey sources most of the standard, mid-grade equipment locally, “critical dependencies on key components like jet engines, semiconductors, and naval propulsion technologies persist.”
Turkey’s “commitment to self-reliance in defense technology is evident and this trend is set to continue in the coming decade,” he said.
