SSM CELEBRATED ITS 25th ANNIVERSARY
In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Erdoğan stated that the SSM had taken important steps that put “being national” in the defence area to the forefront and that the Undersecretariat had put its signature to many successful projects such as the ATAK Helicopter, the Unmanned Air Vehicle (ANKA) and the Main Battle Tank (ALTAY). Stating that it would continue with forward looking new projects, Erdoğan said: “I wish many more 25 years and that its success will continue.”
Activities that began to slacken in the area of defence with Turkey’s NATO membership and as a result of the embargo applied after the Cyprus Peace Operation were again accelerated and the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (at the beginning known as the Office of Defence Industry Development and Support Administration), in order to identify strategies and to realize their implementation, was founded with Law No. 3238 in 1985. The Undersecretariat’s duties according to the said law were to constitute “a modern defence industry in Turkey and to achieve the modernization of the Turkish Armed Forces.” With the founding of the Undersecretariat, the goal was to create a defence industry that would be open to the private sector that would develop indigenous technologies, that possessed export potential and that would free Turkey from being a continuous buyer to one that enabled mutual cooperation in this area. During the beginning years, the Undersecretariat undertook partnerships with foreign companies and thereby pioneered technology transfers and in later years, parallel to developments in national industry, began to increasingly emphasize indigenous technology development programs. The number of projects that the Undersecretariat undertook rapidly increased from the beginning years and what were activities that started with a few projects has reached the implementation stage of over 250 Turkish Armed Forces modernization and R&D projects.
Today, with main platform projects such as the Main Battle Tank (ALTAY), the Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Helicopter (ATAK), the Unmanned Air Vehicle (ANKA) and the Corvette Combat Ship (MILGEM) that are undertaken by Turkish companies as the main contractors, the defence industry is leading our nation to the potential of becoming one of the leading countries in the world in this area. As an organization that is now in the position of directing the defence industry, with the ever increasing coverage of activities, instead of project based decisions, the Undersecretariat has decided on shaping its activities based on strategic management principles and has prepared its first 5-year Strategic Plan for the 2007-2011 period, shared it with public opinion and defined its targets. During the beginning of this decade, the 25 % domestic coverage rate for the requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces is targeted to rise to 50 % during the first stage and defence industry exports, which are at a limited level, to 1 billion dollars according to the Strategic Plan and followed up through the Annual Performance Programs and Activity Reports. As of the end of 2009, the domestic coverage rate had exceeded 46 % and exports had surpassed 800 million dollars.
