Turkey among top 100 in global arms industry
Two Turkish companies, ASELSAN and Turkish Aerospace Industries, were listed in the top 100 world arms producing and military service companies list in 2017, according to SIPRI.
The Turkish-made military attack helicopter, T-129 ATAK, fires at high velocity in a military drill in Turkey.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released the list of top 100 arms producer and military services companies for 2017 on Monday.
According to data published by the SIPRI, arm sales of Turkish companies have increased by 24 percent in 2017.
Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, said: “This significant increase reflects Turkey’s ambitions to develop its arms industry to fulfil its growing demand for weapons and become less dependent on foreign suppliers.”
Turkey has been developing its military technology and capacity, under a national development scheme that it calls the 2023 Vision, named after the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the modern republic. The country has produced in recent years domestic tanks, fighter jets, defense systems and unmanned aerial vehicles.
A photo of Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) Bayraktar TB2 equipped with developed ammunition
Turkey’s growing defence industry fulfills the country’s military needs and is attractive to other countries.
Turkey substantially increased its arms exports by 145 percent between 2013-2017, the highest percentage increase in the world, according to the SIPRI.
The report says Turkey has increased its arms exports, in terms of units, from 72 in 2010 to 244 in 2017.
US companies dominate the sector
The US companies continue to dominate the arms sales market with 42 companies featuring in SIPRI's list.
Total arm sales by US companies has grown by two percent, reaching $226.6 billion, that equals to 57 percent of the total arms trade of the world.
United States’ leading arms producer company Lockheed Martin remains the biggest arm seller, $44.9 billion in 2017.
In this file photograph taken July 15, 2008, people wander around a life-size model of US planemaker Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter II, during the Farnborough aerospace show, in Farnborough, England.
The Russia bagged the second spot
Russia, with 10 companies on the SIPRI list, unseated the UK for the first time since 2002 from the second spot.
Russian companies increased their arm sales by 8.5 percent in 2017, reaching $37.7 billion.
“This is in line with Russia’s increased spending on arms procurement to modernize its armed forces,” Siemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Programme said.
Almaz-Antey, which was already biggest arm producing company of Russia, has appeared for the first time on the top 10 list of the SIPRI in 2017. Almaz-Antey has increased its sales by 17 percent from 2016 to 2017, its total sales reaching to $8.6 billion last year.
Russian army S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft system make their way through the Red Square during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade which will take place at Moscow's Red Square on May 9 to celebrate 69 years of the victory in WWII, in Moscow, Russia, late Monday, May 5, 2014.
Almaz-Antey is only company from a non-NATO member country on the top 10 list.
The UK remains biggest in Western Europe
The UK was largest arm seller country in Western Europe again, with seven companies on the top 100 list and total arms sales of $35.7 billion.
The combine arms sales of 24 companies of Western Europe was worth $94.9 billion,accounting for 23.8 percent of sales of the top 100 list.
BAE employees move an armoured vehicle at the BAE Systems plant in Newcastle, England, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011.
British BAE systems was the fourth biggest arm producer around the world in 2017, with sales of $22.9 billion.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.