The Turkish defense and aerospace industry is now designing, developing and producing the most critical products of the defense industry, from unmanned aerial vehicles to communication and observation satellites, from helicopters to trainer aircrafts, from battleship to infantry rifles, from modernization projects to command and control systems. It is meeting the requirements of the Turkish army and security forces. However, in today’s world the borders of Turkey should be surmounted, by exporting our premium products. Not only Turkey’s needs should be met but also export performance should be increased. 

Our defense and aerospace industry with its almost 2-billion-dollar export performance stands tobe one of the most important export figures of Turkey. Our sector which aims to achieve 25 billion dollars in exports by 2023 managed to end the year with a growth rate that was beyond Turkey’s average compared to the previous year. In 2016, our sector reached $1 billion 678 million in export performance.  

Today, Turkey stands out as a country that is producing its own satellite, drone, trainer aircraft, helicopter, infantry rifle, battleship, armored military vehicle, missile and rocket system; developing simulation and software; cooperating in globally recognized projects like F35 and A400M; building a satellite production test center; working on the construction of the satellite launch center and initiating genuine helicopter projects, with its qualified labor force, research institutes, R&D laboratories, SMEs and huge companies.

International cooperation is necessary in order take part in global competition; and being recognized is necessary for international cooperation. You can produce very good and perfect products without failure on the production calendar but unless you are recognized or known, nobody will be aware of you. This is precisely why prestigious fairs, with broad participation, such as IDEF 2017 International Defense Industry Fair, embody huge opportunities for us.  By hosting this fair, we will show the world the high level of achievement reached by the Turkish defense and aerospace industry.