Turkey to showcase indigenous defence products at a global forum

Turkish and global defence companies have been exhibiting their latest high-tech military products at the four-day International Defense Industry Fair(IDEF) in Istanbul, which started on August 17.

One of the world’s largest global defence events, the fair is being held under the auspices of the Turkish Presidency, hosted by the Turkish National Defense Ministry, and organised by Turkey's largest fair firm Tuyap under the management and responsibility of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday Turkey is not only self-sufficient in terms of its defence industry, but also shares its know-how with its friends and allies, speaking at the IDEF.

Erdogan said Ankara is pleased to share all its defence industry means and capabilities with its friends and allies.

Erdogan said agreements and protocols signed at the event show the fair's global importance. He also added that Turkey is among three or four countries globally that design, produce, and sell armed unmanned aerial vehicles or drones.

“We have managed to reduce our external dependency in the defence industry to 20 percent from 80 percent,” Erdoğan added.

Together with 536 Turkish domestic firms, 700 foreign companies take part in the IDEF. 

The fair is also expected to be attended by 97 top officials from all over the world, including 31 government ministers, 33 army chiefs, and 33 land forces generals.

This year, the event is closed to the public attendance due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last year over 1,000 participants showcased their products to 76,000 professionals from 71 countries.

The fair also features panels on a range of topics such as space research, future technologies, and digital transformation.

Several signing ceremonies are expected to be held during the event.

The event is exhibiting a wide range of defence products in various fields, including land vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), weapons, simulators, radar, sonar, naval platform solutions, aviation systems, missiles, logistical vehicles, supply equipment, and security systems.

Here are some leading Turkish companies attend the IDEF:

ASELSAN

Turkish defence giant ASELSAN is exhibiting more than 250 products, including aerial and naval defence, electronic warfare and weapon systems, at the event.

The state-run company showcases the laser target device ENGEREK-2 and the ASELFLIR-500 electro-optical system for the first time at the event.

Despite the negative effects of the pandemic, ASELSAN increased its turnover by 24 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year by reaching $2.23 billion.

Turkey's largest defence manufacturer also made $630 million net profit, 33 percent higher than the previous year.

It is also one of the developing partners of Turkish promising defence systems HISAR-A and HISAR-O.

TAI 

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) displays its aerial vehicle projects such as the T129 Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Helicopter (ATAK), the National Combat Aircraft (MMU), the training aircraft Hürjet and a fifth-generation indigenous stealth fighter jet.

A new generation satellite project developed by the TAI is also being exhibited.

ROKETSAN and STM

Turkey's missile producer ROKETSAN, aiming at being a pioneer in rocket and missile systems, and STM Defense Technologies and Engineering Ltd are other leading companies in the fair.

Atmaca, a long-range anti-ship missile developed by ROKETSAN, has a high-precision, long-range, surface-to-surface, precision strike anti-ship missile which can be integrated with patrol boats, frigates and corvettes and is expected to replace the US-made Harpoon.

It has a range of more than 200 kilometres (124 miles), posing a threat to targets far outside visual range.

It also provides a target update, re-attack, and mission abort capability via modern data link.

STM manufactures autonomous Kargu-2 drones and supplies them to the Turkish military.

In March 2020, the Kargu-2 drones were deployed to Libya to launch 'swarm attacks' against warlord Khalifa Haftar's militias. The moment has been marked as the first drone attack using artificial intelligence (AI), in which no human was involved remotely, according to the UN Security Council's report on Libya.