ISTANBUL — Turkey’s defense exports totaled $7.1 billion in 2024, a significant increase from $5.5 billion in 2023, according to Haluk Görgün, president of the Defense Industry Agency.
The growth reflects the sector’s expanding global footprint reaching 180 countries last year, and it comes as companies here churn out more sophisticated platforms like drones, warships and electronic-warfare systems for the Turkish armed forces.
Görgün announced the 2024 results during the Global Defense and Aerospace Industry Strategies Conference, held on the weekend in Antalya, and organized by the Defense and Aerospace Industry Exporters’ Association (SSI) and the Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB). The event brought together CEOs and business development managers from major global defense and industrial firms.
According to an SSB tally, Turkey’s top 10 defense exporters were:
- Baykar: $1.8 billion;
- TUSAŞ Aviation: $750 million;
- ASFAT: $644 million;
- MKE: $610 million;
- Arca Defense: $600 million;
- TUSAŞ Engine: $390 million;
- Aselsan: $217 million;
- RAM Foreign Trade (Otokar): $193 million;
- Roketsan: $179 million; and
- Samsun Yurt Defense: $166 million
The figures represent the companies’ direct foreign sales and do not account for indirect sales. Indirect sales occur when a company’s products are used as subsystems in another company’s exports, such as an Aselsan electro-optic sensor integrated into a Baykar UAV.
According to Aselsan, its indirect exports in 2024 amounted to $291 million, bringing the company’s overall export volume to $508 million. Indirect export figures for other companies were not publicly available at the time of writing.
Among the top ten recipient countries were the United States, Czechia, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, and Bulgaria, all members of NATO.
In recent years, sales of drones, ammunition, infantry weapons and land vehicles have started to claim a larger share of exports to Europe and the United States, said Arda Mevlütoğlu, an independent defense analyst.
“Asia-Pacific has always been one of the major targets for the Turkish defense sector,” Mevlütoğlu added, “but we now see a strong thrust towards the U.S. and European markets.”
The share of defense articles in Turkey’s total export portfolio has steadily increased over the past 20 years, the analyst said.
“In 2024, more than 2.7% of total exports came from defense sales. Achieving a 5% share seems like a realistic short-term goal, which could be reached through the sale of larger and more sophisticated platforms,” he said.
Cem Devrim Yaylali is a Turkey correspondent for Defense News. He is a keen photographer of military ships and has a passion for writing about naval and defense issues. He was born in Paris, France, and resides in Istanbul, Turkey. He is married with one son.
