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Nov 21st - 1 Min Read

Turkish Arms Industry

By: Danar Rebar Khorsheed

Turkey has manufactured its newest Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) the Bayraktar TB-3 which is in the TB line of assault drones. The Turkish private defense company Baykar which specializes in UAVs and AI has recently received the new PD170 turbo diesel engine for their latest version of the TB-line of assault drones Bayraktar TB-3, from TEI- a leading Turkish engine manufacturer.


Prof. Dr. Mahmut Aksit, the general manager of TEI announced at the SAHA Expo 2022, that the PD170 engine is considered the world’s finest turbo diesel aircraft engine. He further stated that this engine has been used in another drone called Aksungar that was manufactured by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and that the drone could stay in the air for 49 hours at a height of 30,000 ft with an output power of 126 – 168 kW (up to 220 Horsepower).


In the last decade, Turkey has been improving its arms industry to reduce its dependency on external imports from allied countries.


Possibility of embargoes being imposed on Turkey was not far after purchasing the S-400 Defense system from Russia, which caused distress among NATO members.


This action also made the US remove Turkey from the F-35 Fighter Jet Programme as a response to the purchase saying that "F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities".


Turkey also continued providing arms and special forces training to Libya and its soldiers this year in violation of the UN security council resolution and declined to provide complete information on the UN-requested report.


Statistics from the Turkish Defense and Aerospace Industry Manufacturers Association (SASAD) show that in 2017, Turkey spent $1.8B spent on exporting arms. Mevlut Cavusoglu, The former Turkish foreign minister stated in 2019, Turkey “now produces over 70% of its own military equipment and is also a significant exporter of arms”. Another source said that Turkish arms exports during the period 2014-18 had increased by 170% compared with the period from 2009-13.


Turkey has violated many rules set by its allies and continues to do so, it has its sophisticated arms industry, is still a NATO member, and above all deals with Russia, while also exports arms to Kyiv in the Russo-Ukrainian War.