Turkey`s 2021 Defense and Aerospace Industry Turnover Exceeds US$ 10 Billion

As per the 2021 sector performance data prepared by the Defense and Aerospace Industry Manufacturers Association (SASAD), the defense and aerospace industry turnover surpassed the US$ 10 billion threshold in 2021 and returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Making an opening speech at the 4th Defense Industry Meetings organized in cooperation with the Istanbul Chamber of Industry and SAHA Istanbul, President of Defense Industries Prof. İsmail DEMİR also announced the 2021 turnover data, order amount and R&D expenditure figures of the defense industry: “According to the 2021 sector performance data prepared by the Defense and Aerospace Industry Manufacturers Association (SASAD), our defense and aerospace industry turnover surpassed US$ 10 billion threshold in 2021 and returned to pre-pandemic levels. The total value of new orders received by our industry rose by 40 percent compared to the previous year and amounted to approximately US$ 9 billion. The R&D expenditures of our industry increased by 32 percent compared to the previous year and exceeded 1 billion 600 million dollars. By the end of this year, we aim to achieve further increases in these figures.”

DEMİR emphasized that the greatest ambition of the Defense Industry is to become a fully independent Turkey and added they continue to work with each member of the ecosystem established in the field of defense industry. DEMİR also underlined that Turkey is no longer a market but a global actor thanks to the great efforts exerted in the industry: “As I have touched upon at every platform, our greatest ambition is to become a fully independent country in the defense industry. The point we have reached today, and all our achievements so far are the outcomes of a systematic work. I believe that if we work with the same willpower and resolution, there is no reason why we wouldn’t be one of the pioneering countries in the defense industry in 10 years. Our country has become a global actor rather than a market in the field of defense industry. The most significant indicator of this is our exports. The number of countries to which we export products has reached 170 and the products being exported to 228, including UAVs and UCAVs, ground vehicles, and naval platforms. While we had an annual export revenue of only US$ 248 million 20 years ago, we closed the year 2021 at record high with US$ 3,224 billion. In 2022, we expect to reach well over 4 billion dollars. While the kilogram value of our country's general exports is nearly 1.5 dollars, it is US$ 70  in defense and aerospace. This is yet another indicator illustrating how critical our defense industry is.”