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Turkey pours money into defense industry

Turkey pours money into defense industry

Turkey’s launch on Tuesday of the Tayfun ballistic missile, with a range of 561 kilometers, is seen as further testimony to the effort it is putting into developing its defense industry. Tellingly, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that “the rate of national domestic participation in defense programs has reached the level of 80%.”

The predecessor of the Tayfun, the Bora missile system, has a range of about 280 kilometers and is already part of the arsenal of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Yildirim ballistic missile, with a range of 150km, has also been built.

Roketsan, a company belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces’ defense industry Aselsan, produces the HISAR medium-range anti-aircraft system with a range of 25km, as well as the Atmaca anti-ship missile, which is already in use by the Turkish Navy. This industry produces dozens of other rockets as well as missiles.

Other important projects of the Defense Industry Directorate are light guns and automatic weapons, Firtina howitzers and unmanned aerial vehicles.

At the same time, the frigates, corvettes and MILGEM ship programs are moving ahead, as are the German technology submarines. Work is also ongoing regarding the Turkish TF-X fighter aircraft, which is scheduled to join the air force in 2030. Regarding the Altay tanks, the project has been delayed by at least seven years due to the informal embargo imposed by Germany, which has held back on providing the engines.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Turkey’s defense budget, which will reach $25.5 billion. However, with projected devaluation, analysts estimate the amount will reach $21.5 billion. “Due to the growing threats in the world and in our region, we are increasing our defense budget to a fairly high level,” said Erdogan. 

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