ANKARA: Turkey is aiming to achieve independence from imported equipment by 2023, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the IDEF defence exhibition in Istanbul.
Our plan is to completely eliminate external dependency on defence equipment supply with ongoing plans and investments until 2023,” the Anatolia news agency reported on 5 May.”Our next target in [the] defence industry will be unique design,” he added.
According to IHS data, Turkey assembled 60% of equipment that was delivered to its armed forces in 2014, with the United States (15%) and Spain (9%), the two other largest sources of equipment. Imports of foreign-made equipment were valued at USD1.5 billion in 2014, according to the IHS Balance of Trade 2015 report.
Turkey is also keen to promote exports of its defence equipment, with the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) claiming to have exported USD1.6 billion worth of goods in 2014. The country’s main export items ranged from armoured vehicles, to rockets and electronic systems, with the country looking to boost the value of defence exports to USD25 billion by 2023.
The country is also developing a number of indigenous land and missile systems, many of which are in collaboration with international manufacturers as part of a set of wider offset agreements related to the country’s defence equipment procurements. Major indigenous defence design programmes include the Altay main battle tank and a fifth-generation fighter programme, known as the Turkish Fighter Experimental (TFX).
The country is also in the process of acquiring Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, for which it will serve as a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) hub and has already undertaken component manufacture and assembly. Additionally, Turkish industry will also be assembling localised and international variants of the Sikorsky S-70 BlackHawk helicopter as part of a USD3.5 billion deal announced in 2014.
