Turkish Defense Industry Demonstrated Capabilities at the 3rd Efficiency and Technology Fair

Organized by Türkiye Verimlilik Vakfı (Turkey Efficiency Foundation) with the theme of "Advanced Technologies" the 3rd Efficiency & Technology Fair was held at the ATO Congresium this year on June 9-12. The objective of the fair was to showcase technological products and studies that contribute to the improvement of efficiency in our country and the world, while raising awareness about efficiency.  High tech products were exhibited at the fair which was attended by prominent Turkish and global enterprises active particularly in the defense industry and education, energy, agriculture, communication, transportation. 

Vice President Fuat OKTAY, Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa VARANK, Minister of National Defense Hulusi AKAR, President of Defense Industries Prof. İsmail DEMİR, and many government officials attended the 3-day fair that hosted a considerable number of industry executives. Defense Industry products from companies such as Aselsan, Roketsan, Haveslan, TÜBİTAK Sage, TUSAŞ, MKEK, Sarsılmaz, and SDT were exhibited during the fair. 

Taking the floor after Ankara Science University's President Prof. Yavuz DEMİR, Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa VARANK stated that the increase in global trade allowed for the effective utilization of international economic competition, resources, workforce and added, "In addition to a strong impact on the competitive power of countries and companies, efficiency is indispensable for sustainable growth. Considering the rapid digitalization in our world following the novel type Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the way to maximize efficiency is through Advanced Technologies, which is also our fair's theme. Such transformation in progress with the launch of programmable machines continues to stand out with the 4th Industrial Revolution presently led by modern automation systems. From past to present, we have been observing a single common aim in the outcomes witnessed upon the Industrial Revolutions. And this is a remarkable increase in efficiency." 

Underlining that the Industry and Technology Strategy for 2023 was designed in line with the National Technology Move, VARANK stressed that they prioritized the acceleration of the industry's technological transformation, becoming the manufacturer of critical technologies and increasing R&D's share in the national income. VARANK mentioned that they aimed to invest in a qualified labor force and launch "TURCORN" which develop products and services that are used worldwide and continued, "We are willing to become a trendsetter country in technologies such as digitalization, space, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems, instead of a country that follows the world. We designed our National Space Program based on such a vision. We are about to complete our road maps under the titles of mobility tools, smart life and health, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and 5G. We designed the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy covering the 2021-2025 period with the Presidency's Digital Transformation Office, and we will soon share the details of this strategy with the public." 

VARANK pointed out that they redesigned the Ministry's support and incentive mechanisms according to the aforementioned titles and he noted that they are encouraging SMEs to manufacture technology and are supporting the increase of SMEs utilizing these technologies. "Only in 2020 alone, we contributed to 396 projects, amounting to TRY 158 million, that focused on digital transformation. We have been carrying out R&D, Product Development, and Innovation Support Programs to enhance the production capacity of businesses and to render them more efficient and competitive. With the help of KOSGEB (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization), we raised a fund of TRY 889 million just in two years for nearly 10 thousand SMEs regarding support programs prioritizing technology levels and indigenous production. Also, as part of the Technology-Based Industry Program, which we started to implement in this period, we included the 'Mobility' sector in 2021 for the indigenous production of advanced technologies and products in which we face a current deficit. Moreover, we will be working on 'Structural Transformation in Production,' 'Health and Chemical Products,' and 'Digital Transformation.' We will continue to provide support to increase efficiency in all areas and enhance the production of advanced technologies," said VARANK.

Minister VARANK underlined that they stepped up gears in all areas to become a leading country in advanced technologies while encouraging the industry and technology ecosystems throughout this transformation. VARANK emphasized the importance of investing in the right technology at the right time and added, "Ten years ago, we strived to import UAVs and had to wait for their repair and maintenance in the aftermath. Thank God, now Turkish A-UAVs developed by Turkish engineers are looking forward to flying over the European skies. Presently, the entire world is speaking about the unmanned air vehicles that Turkey has developed. I am constantly being asked to comment on the F-35 Program. The F-35 is indeed a successful aircraft, but we have been developing its equivalent as part of the National Combat Aircraft project with TUSAŞ. Above all, Turkey is currently amongst the few countries to invest in combat UAV technology. Hopefully, when we launch our combat UAVs to the market, the whole world will be talking about the UAVs developed by Turkey, leaving the F-35s aside." 

Vice President Fuat OKTAY delivered a speech after the Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa VARANK and underlined that they accomplished Turkey's 'structural transformation with high added value' and 'sustainable economic growth' targets as part of the 'Indigenous Technology, Powerful Industry' vision and added, "The secondary axis of our vision of industry is an increase in efficiency, digital transformation, and regional development. As soon as we entered this fair venue, we had the opportunity to once more witness together the concrete results of the level our country has reached in these three axes. Our indigenous and national defense industry projects are displayed here, and our prominent universities that are pioneers in R&D are present here with their products. Advanced technology is not far away from us. Without a doubt, we have a long way ahead and many challenges. So far, we have established 1,239 R&D centers and 79 Technoparks, and we continue to work more to achieve more." 

Vice President OKTAY noted that they have been executing 750 Defense Industry projects valued at over US$ 60 billion and underlined that they would be raising this project volume to higher levels. Stating that areas such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, augmented reality, big data, robotics, cybersecurity, and sensor technologies have been identified as the primary critical technology areas for development, OKTAY continued, "Providing support to the initiatives and discoveries in these areas is our priority. We will become a much stronger Turkey in the years 2053 and 2071 with an economic model reinforced with high technology and increased efficiency." 

OKTAY mentioned that quantum technologies, interplanetary internet, automation, advanced nanotechnology, picotechnology, and wearable indigenous and national technologies could be on display in fairs to come and continued: "We cannot waste any of our country’s resources, particularly energy, raw material, and capital. We cannot waste our time, either. I believe the indigenous technology projects, of which we are presently building the infrastructure for, will be our most precious inheritance to pass on to future generations. Encouraging the projects that would increase efficiency and the Turkey Efficiency Foundation's activities for developing the efficiency culture in society are essential. The activities geared towards improving efficiency will be extended to the masses through this fair, just like the past two events. In this way, society's awareness in efficiency will increase, as will the strength of coordination between the sectors." 

Attending the 3rd Efficiency & Technology Fair in the afternoon, Minister of National Defense Hulusi AKAR stated in his remarks that the rapid development of technology was clearly felt in all aspects of life. Minister AKAR noted that countries that own and effectively utilize technology gain an advantage in the international arena and underlined that the countries that lack in technology or fail to adapt to the developments remained as markets and were subject to all types of threats and danger. Stressing that remarkable progress was achieved in almost all areas, in defense technologies, in particular, Minister AKAR added, "We managed to increase domestic participation and the indigenousness rate in our high-tech defense industry to over 70%. We aim to carry this rate to the level of 75-80% in 2023." Stating that local defense industry companies reached a level to be able to compete with major global companies and that 7 local companies were now listed among the world's top 100 leading defense industry companies, Minister AKAR continued, "In the past, we even imported our infantry rifles, however, presently we achieved the competency to design, manufacture and export our indigenous infantry rifles, our warships, frigates, UAVs/A-UAVs, Fırtına howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, ATAK helicopters, smart precision-guided munitions. Moreover, our radar and electronic warfare systems, missiles, and munitions have strengthened our army further in domestic and cross-border operations. Besides, our activities regarding the National Combat Aircraft, the Siper Air Defense System, and the Anadolu Amphibious Assault Ship are being carried out intensely and successfully." 

Minister AKAR stated that in addition to covering Turkish Armed Forces' needs, they are presently able to cover the defense-related requirements of friendly and allied nations and added, "The Turkish Armed Forces has now reached the advantages and operational superiority availed by high-technology that can be achieved by only a few armies in the world. Indeed, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) has been intensely, effectively, and selflessly fighting valiantly to protect our country and our friends' and brothers' rights and to contribute to regional and global peace and stability in our country and in Syria and in the northern part of Iraq, in Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Libya, East Mediterranean, in the Aegean region and in many other locations."

Minister AKAR expressed that they have been endeavoring to develop their technology to meet the TAF's needs and to render it more effective and continued: "The shape that the operational environment will be taking in the future is getting far too complicated to be tackled with classical approaches and traditional thinking methods. Considering the operation's form and execution in the future, our defense industry's path should be identified by new military requirements. We intend to avoid being late in including robotic and autonomous systems equipped with artificial intelligence, that are regarded as technologies of the future. We wish to prepare our army in advance for the capability to fight with the speed of a machine. Because the powerful armies of the future, those that will achieve major accomplishments will be the ones at peace with science and technology, furthermore the ones leading in technological developments. To that end, we are closely following developments regarding artificial intelligence, the internet of things, big data, cyber-physical and robotic systems, and autonomous systems. There are many products and technologies that are currently being used, ranging from swarm drones to quantum radars, from midget submarines to laser guns, from directed-energy weapons to micro-satellites, and all these products and technologies are also being improved. Such products started to take part in the operational area, and their utilization will continue to increase." 

Minister AKAR pointed out that along with land, air and sea, space and cyberspace became critical operational fields in defense technologies of the future and concluded his speech: "Having an upper hand, especially in the cyber systems area, has become a prerequisite for becoming successful in other operational areas. Collaboration of academicians, industrialists, and the Turkish Armed Forces in a coordinated manner in the development of such technologies required or to be required for warfare will hugely benefit the rapid progress of systems. We will carry out our activities without slowing down, mobilize all our facilities, and work without giving up. We will not lag-behind any country. We have confidence in our human resources, our potential, and our defense industry that shall transform this potential to power to achieve our targets. Good things happen when one believes in them, better things happen when one is patient, and the best things happen when one never gives up. There is no doubt we will embrace greater achievements with our belief, patience, will, and decisiveness." 

President of Defense Industries Prof. İsmail DEMİR attended the seminar titled "Defense and Space Technologies After 2023," held on the second day of the event as part of the 3rd Efficiency & Technology Fair. In his speech, DEMİR underlined the importance of a technology-based defense industry that will guarantee Turkey's security and said, "Competence in the technologies that will maintain our country's and citizens' security is critical. Our country's future and our guarantee of independence lie within the saying 'If you want peace, prepare for war,' and this can be achieved through an effective indigenous and national defense industry. Surely, the human parameter is crucial in the utilization of technological equipment and products. The weapons may fail to be effective if the citizens lack in courage and ethical values." 

DEMİR stressed that they aimed to increase the resources allocated to R&D and technology investments, particularly in recent periods, to enhance technical efficiency and continued, "The products used in the field have been increasing our country's security and the power of the TAF. I would like to underline the necessity of launching implementations in various technology areas as these products play a major role in society's security and peace. Surely, the countries lacking such strengths would fail to survive. However, the ones failing to use such powers well would not survive, either.  Nations that do not have significant national power will have to lag behind in the international competition." DEMİR also added, "When speaking of power, we mentioned technology and workforce. Human resources are the most critical strength of any country. Considering Turkey's most crucial power, the dynamic, young, and highly qualified human resources is the guarantee of our future. We have a young population, and this population must be improved. Its future should be illuminated. To avoid wasting any of its time, its progress should be kept in line with the targets. Effective utilization of human resources is of vital essence. If we fail to achieve this, we will experience a major waste of human resources. Education sits at the top of the main factors regarding achieving well-versed staff. Along with obtaining the know-how, embracing staff with ethical values to use this know-how in a humane manner is critical." 

DEMİR also stated that if a country lacked a strong Industrial and Technological infrastructure, then it would not be sound enough to claim a powerful stance in the defense industry and added that a vast Industrial and Technological infrastructure is critical to have a sustainable defense industry and own globally leading technological products, particularly in certain strategic areas. 

DEMİR informed participants about Turkey's road map for space and underlined that satellites were the first concept on the agenda regarding this area. Stressing that activities conducted in space would continue to increase, İsmail DEMİR added, "God willing, we will proceed towards a world where we have our indigenous communication and observation satellites in space, where we travel to space with our launching systems and where we have various modules to conduct space travel." President of Defense Industries DEMİR underlined that the communication and observation satellites were built by collaboration with foreign companies. DEMİR added, "Both our communication and observation satellites were manufactured by the cooperation built with international companies. They were launched to space with an ever-increasing rate of domestic participation. Facing ourselves at this point, we need to own launching systems to access space, manufacture our satellites, have products with space history, and mature our space-related technologies. Presently we can claim that we have rockets that are able to reach space. The activities regarding space are usually scientific activities conducted with peaceful and civilian purposes. All these activities contribute to areas such as observation, communication, and other areas and unavoidably to the area of defense. In this respect, Roketsan has reached space with its solid-fuel rocket engines, at an altitude of over 150 kilometers. We can raise this altitude. Now we can send our systems, conduct gradual missile firing, and control direction in space. Surely, these are not sufficient; we need to own all missile engine technologies. We launched space travel with hybrid rockets, with rockets with solid and liquid fuel. Space travel will continue to increase after 2023 as well. We hope we will proceed into a world where we have our indigenous communication and observation satellites, where we can travel to space with our launchers, and where we have various modules to conduct space travel. The capabilities and technologies developed by the defense industry will constitute the main technology areas of this journey." 

Following President of Defense Industries İsmail DEMİR's speech, Vice President of Defense Industries and ULAK Communication Chairman of the Board Celal Sami TÜFEKÇİ, Aselsan Chairman and CEO Haluk GÖRGÜN, and TUSAŞ President and CEO Temel KOTİL took the floor during the second session. GÖRGÜN started his remarks by informing participants on the output of Aselsan's yearly activities and noted that Aselsan successfully created remarkable employment opportunities in Turkey. GÖRGÜN stated that they concluded the year by increasing the company's previous turnover of TRY 13 billion to TRY 16 billion and underlined their contribution of over 1,200 employment opportunities. GÖRGÜN also pointed that they signed international export contracts that amounted to US$ 500 million during the pandemic process. 

Relaying information on Aselsan's high-tech defense products, which have been either launched to utilization recently or are under the design stage, GÖRGÜN continued, "We may mention the SİPER Long Range Regional Air and Missile Defense System Project, Top Layer Ballistic Missile Defense System Development Project, National Combat Aircraft Project, National GPS Satellite, Artificial Intelligence Deputy Commander to support the military units in the field, autonomous land, air and naval vehicles operating in swarms, communication equipment over TURKSAT-6A, KARAKULAK High-Frequency Shortcut Rest Systems as examples of our high-tech defense products." Stating that they attended the Fair with 26 sub-contractors, GÖRGÜN also spoke of Aselsan's activities in indigenous products. "In line with our mission of establishment, we have been placing great importance on activities regarding indigenous projects. In the last three years, we have availed over 750 products for nationalization and indigenization applications. We have nationalized over 400 products and achieved over US$ 150 million of contribution to our country's economy. We are aware that we have a long path to cover. We will absolutely achieve better and more updated products as we proceed and evaluate our accomplishments. We strive to proceed with the help of such experiences. Nationalization and international business development are among the critical notions for our company." 

In his speech, TUSAŞ President and CEO Temel KOTİL said, "GÖKBEY conducted its flight smoothly as if it was built by a company in business for 100 years. It is presently being prepared to be delivered to the Gendarmerie General Command. Within this scope, we will be executing three helicopter deliveries within a year. For the time being, GÖKBEY is the world's best helicopter in its category. We are presently a world-ranking company, and we wish to become one of the top five helicopter companies. There are over 4 thousand engineers in our company, and we are heading towards 5 thousand engineers. The number of employers reached 10 thousand by adding 1,500 technicians and 500 experts to our staff. God willing, we will reach a staff size of 20 thousand. On the other hand, our number of engineers is proceeding towards 10 thousand from 4 thousand." 

KOTİL mentioned TUSAŞ's other ongoing projects and said, "Our second helicopter is the Heavy Class Attack Helicopter T929. We name it '25' when it is civilian and use '29' for military purposes. T625 (GÖKBEY) is a 6-ton helicopter; T929 weighs 11 tons. It is larger than the model (A129), which we nationalized under an AgustaWestland (Leonardo) license. TUSAŞ presently develops T129, T70, T625, T629 (6 tons, slightly larger than the Atak), T925 large civilian helicopter, and T929 with its resources. No other company has such a high number of projects. There is also the HÜRKUŞ. The indigenous and national training and fighter jet HÜRJET will hopefully be in the skies on March 18, 2023. There is also the MMU project (National Combat Aircraft). Finally, yet importantly, we have the ongoing ANKA and AKSUNGUR projects, we have other UAVs as well, but I will mention them later. HÜRKUŞ has been put into service; HÜRJET will fly in 2023 and will enter service in 2025. The MMU will start flying in 2025 and serve in 2028. As part of the MMU project, we exceeded 1,000 engineers and have been heading towards 3,000." 

Delivering the final speech of the session, ULAK Communication Chairman Celal Sami TÜFEKÇİ said, "My definition of the concepts' Indigenous and National' does not imply that a country conducts 100% of stages and components alone. If one owns the technology, manufacturing a product in another location is possible. Indigenous production creates employment, and indigenous technology contributes to the increase in national income. We can increase Turkey's current national income from around US$10 thousand to US$20 thousand in the short run with companies such as ULAK that produce technology with added value. We will soon launch a smart Organized Industrial Site capable of communicating via 5G in the HAB Aerospace Zone by building our lines. Our ecosystem has been expanding in this sense. At the same time, many of our companies will be carrying Turkey a step forward in communication technologies by supporting ULAK. The ecosystem created in this area is quite valuable. Without an ecosystem and without technology-based efforts, one cannot produce and increase indigenousness. To that end, we built technology-based projects through which we can push the rate of domestic participation to over 80-90% in the defense industry from the current level of 70%." 

During the 3rd Efficiency & Technology Fair, Aselsan also held a presentation ceremony about the company's nationalization efforts in the Turkish defense industry. Aselsan carries out nationalization activities to reduce foreign dependency and supply risks in the defense industry. Within the scope of these activities, Aselsan analyzes the products that have difficulties in procurement from abroad and shares its studies with its business partners. Aselsan Chairman and CEO Haluk GÖRGÜN, who took the floor at the ceremony, stated that the Covid-19 outbreak increased the dependency on production and service centers while reshaping global supply chain rules. "The ongoing extraordinary conditions have left our country, which has strong competitive advantages, to face new threats and opportunities. In this transformation process, we see our valuable business partners, who play a decisive role in Turkey's competitiveness in various sectors, especially in the defense industry, as the most important part of our production chain. We continue in our activities by getting stronger with the vision of nationalization that we have created. With this understanding, we added a milestone this year to our organizational transformation process that we started in 2018, bringing our supply chain management to the assistant general manager level. With our new organization, we aim to transform our supply chain management to a sustainable, simple, and agile structure."

Emphasizing that Aselsan places great importance on nationalization efforts within the framework of its founding mission, Haluk GÖRGÜN stated that they established the 'National and Domestic Product Development Committee' three years ago to strengthen the bond between them and their suppliers and to carry out nationalization studies in a more systematic manner. "Within the framework of our founding mission, we want to strengthen the bond between our suppliers and us to increase the effectiveness of nationalization efforts and further reduce foreign dependency. In line with this purpose, we established the 'National and Domestic Product Development Committee' three years ago to carry out our nationalization efforts more systematically. Within this committee, we prepare technical information brochures for the products to be nationalized. To date, we have opened more than 750 products to nationalization applications, and in the last three years, we have nationalized approximately 400 products with your efforts. We have increased our domestic procurement rate above 70%, and we will raise it even higher. We gathered our suppliers under an integrated roof and created the 'Gücümüz Bir' platform. We consider that KOSGEB and our defense industry clusters play a vital role in the nationalization process. Today, we will sign cooperation protocols with KOSGEB, SaSaD, ODTÜ Teknokent, and the OSTİM Defense & Aviation Cluster. I hope that the protocols we will sign with these institutions, which have an important part in Turkey's defense exports with their qualified capabilities, will benefit our country. Another priority is to develop our effective supply chain by continuously finding domestic suppliers. In this direction, we will present their certificates to the newly approved companies today. In addition, we will increase the number of our contracted banks to 13 by adding one more to our cooperation with 12 banks to facilitate financing for our supplier companies."

After the presentations, the Aselsan defense industry clusters and associations cooperation protocols signing ceremony was held with the participation of Aselsan Chairman and CEO Haluk GÖRGÜN, KOSGEB President Hasan Basri KURT, SaSaD Vice Chairman of the Board Uğur COŞKUN, OSTİM Defense & Aviation Cluster (OSSA) Vice Chairman of The Board İbrahim YARSAN and ODTÜ Teknokent Defense Industry Cluster (TSSK) Chairman of the Board Zeynep ÖKTEM