Türkiye's Announces Expansion Plans for Defense, Aerospace Exports

(MENAFN) Türkiye has announced ambitious expansion plans for its defense and aerospace export industry following a decade of unprecedented growth that positioned the nation as the world's fastest-growing exporter in the sector, with per-employee export revenue now hitting $100,000.

Haluk Gorgun, who leads Türkiye's Defense Industries Secretariat (SSB), emphasized that the country has solidified its position as a critical international defense supplier amid escalating global conflicts, proxy warfare, and emerging hybrid security challenges that continue reshaping worldwide defense priorities.

During Friday's fifth Defense and Aerospace Industry Global Strategies Conference, Gorgun highlighted Türkiye's evolution into a strategic defense collaborator driven by ambitions to achieve complete autonomy in military manufacturing.

"This transformation is edging us closer to our goal of ranking among the top 10 defense exporters worldwide," he said.

The SSB conducted 485 international engagements throughout 2025, according to reports.

"We held some 401 bilateral meetings with 94 countries, 17 defense industry meetings, attended 22 global events, carried out some 17 multinational activities, and held 21 industry days, while, as SSB, we accompanied Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on seven overseas visits," he said.

According to Gorgun, Türkiye's defense export performance in 2025 strengthened military-industrial partnerships with NATO member states, while Turkish-manufactured defense systems gained significant traction across Eastern markets.

"We implemented a comprehensive export package comprised of many different products in the last quarter of 2025, in line with our cooperation with the Syrian Defense Ministry to meet the defense and security needs of the country, after it regained some stability following years of civil war and destruction," he noted.

Defense and aerospace exports from Türkiye reached $10.54 billion in 2025—a dramatic 48% year-over-year increase, Gorgun reported.

Defense and aerospace shipments represented 3.6% of Türkiye's overall export portfolio in 2025, up sharply from the 1.7% recorded in 2022, with European nations emerging as the dominant market for Turkish defense products.

"We exported $4.3 billion to Europe and $1.6 billion to the Middle East, while the US, the UK, and Slovakia in particular were the largest recipients of Turkish defense and aerospace exports—some 185 companies in our sector exported over $1 million, and international indexes confirmed the progress we made," he said.

"Türkiye has become the country with the highest increase in exports worldwide over the last decade versus the previous decade, and in 2025, for the first time, we started collecting data on service exports of our sector, and we saw that we achieved $184 million in service exports last year," he added.

The expanding differential between defense imports and exports signals Türkiye's reduced reliance on international suppliers while simultaneously strengthening the nation's foreign currency position, Gorgun explained.

"Some 58 Turkish provinces made defense and aerospace exports last year, while provinces with $1 million in exports rose from 21 in 2024 to 26 in 2025, and the sector signed new deals worth $17.9 billion in total, up 79% year-on-year," he said. "The Asia–Pacific, Europe, and America are the regions standing out for exports last year, and I'm sure our exports will reach new records in coming years," Gorgun added.

Gorgun revealed that the SSB plans to launch a government-to-government sales framework for military equipment, with regulatory foundations established in 2025 and full implementation scheduled for this year.

This revised commercial approach will enable the SSB to present diverse partnership models to international buyers.

"The average export turnover per capita, one of the export efficiency indicators, stood at $45,000 in 2021 for our sector, but this figure reached $100,000 in 2025," he said. "Foreign firms with global success can reach $300,000, so we need to reach this figure."

Certain Turkish defense manufacturers have already surpassed worldwide per-employee export benchmarks, including ammunition producer ARCA Defense, which achieved exceptional results in 2025.

"ARCA Defense achieved an average export of $750,000 per capita, the highest figure in our sector, for which I would like to congratulate them," he said.

Gorgun underscored the critical importance of synchronized collaboration between the SSB and the defense manufacturing sector regarding international market development and sales operations, noting that the agency will intensify oversight and assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) navigating the challenges of global business expansion with constrained resources.

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