President of Defense Industries Prof. İsmail DEMİR: “Call for Proposals for TF-2000 Tender Process Will Be Launched Soon.”
President of Defense Industry Prof. Dr. İsmail DEMİR provided a general evaluation of the fair to press members on the last day of the fair, August 20th.
Expressing his thanks to all domestic and foreign guests for their participation, DEMİR said that this year's fair was closed to non-professional visitors due to the pandemic, but that young people and visitors will be hosted in upcoming events.
Making important statements in the Q&A session after a brief speech on the fair, DEMİR stated that they plan to launch the call for proposals for the TF-2000 tender soon and continued: “We will launch the tender process for the TF-2000 very soon. We do not stipulate whether it will be built in a civilian or military shipyard, as you know, we usually prefer the tender method. Our military shipyards have their own business capacity. We will receive proposals from them, and as a result of the evaluation of the proposals, we will go with the tender method. In our TF-2000 program, both our Naval Forces Command and some of our companies worked on the TF-2000 as a detailed design and they reached a certain stage.”
DEMİR answered questions regarding the latest status of the MILDEN and MILGEM-I class projects and whether the LHD Anadolu will be transformed into an A-UAV/UAV ship and become a National Design Aircraft Carrier: “We continue our preparations for the MILDEN program. Now, it is very critical to finalize the ongoing submarine projects (REIS Class Submarine program). We are presently participating in submarine tenders in various countries with the experience we have gained here. The experience here will greatly help us getting started from an upper level, not from scratch, when we take the Defense Industry Executive Committee decision for the national submarine. It will be even more important if we take advantage of export opportunities and conduct business with other countries. We take each system and platform beyond the defined parameters and features. The concept of transforming our LHD Anadolu ship into a UAV/A-UAV ship has created a tremendous impression in the world, and some countries asked about this during the fair. They requested meetings with us. Activities for the 5th MİLGEM-I class ship continue. The 6th, 7th and 8th ships also need to be planned. You cannot initiate every project immediately and simultaneously. If you consider these 3 ships and the TF-2000, it is necessary to manage resources well. We would like to have the LHD Trakya, I-Class Frigates, but it all depends on resource planning. In principle, we do not want to conduct foreign purchases, actually, we do not need to do this. Our ship industry is in a position to easily design and build a ship of this class, or with even more superior features. We are closed to foreign procurement.”
Underlining that engine development is a process in the National Combat Aircraft program, DEMİR said that the last step in this journey from the development of small engines to Turbojet and Turbofan engines is the National Combat Aircraft Engine: “What we learn in the intermediate stages provides a significant contribution. In particular, we started to gather a material library and material properties rapidly. Developments continue on a broad basis in terms of production technology. We clearly know what Turkey's competencies are in this regard. We have certain assessments about who can do what and to what extent. We also know what needs to be done to move forward. We will proceed gradually. We can see ahead of us, and the next thing will be to work on the production of the product. We will proceed in this fashion, but you will certainly see other products from time to time. Both helicopter engines and cruise missile engines will demonstrate to you where we will go in the national combat aircraft as a sign of the future.
Prof. DEMİR: “We plan to organize a meeting where we will announce the Defense Industry New Export Strategy.”
Underlining that the Turkish Defense Industry needs a new export strategy with its developing products and systems, DEMİR shared that a draft study has been prepared on this issue and that they are in close contact with other stakeholders. “We have reached a certain maturity in our efforts, and we will hold a separate meeting where we will announce our new export strategies. In addition, we took relevant action regarding the structuring within our embassies related to the Defense Industry. We brought up the structuring of our companies, and we are now designing them. A new perspective and culture is needed on when and how our attachés will step in. For this reason, we are intensifying our talks and visits. We have expanded the Defense Industry Cooperation agreements. We have signed defense industry cooperation agreements with many countries so far. We are paving the way for technology transfer and joint company establishment.”
Prof. İsmail DEMİR also noted that one or more Defense Industry Executive Committee Meetings will be held in 2021 Q4
