Turkey’s Ascent as a Defense Industrial Player
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Turkey’s defense industry is expanding rapidly. The country became the world’s 11th-largest supplier of arms exports recently, while its share of global weapons exports doubled from 0.9 percent in 2016-2020 to 1.8 percent. That remains far below the United States, which controls 42 percent of global major arms exports, but the growth shows that Turkey is becoming a more competitive second-tier supplier. Global rearmament and lengthy U.S. and European delivery backlogs have created demand for alternative suppliers that can offer lower-cost systems, adaptable designs and potentially faster production. Turkey’s capabilities have moved well beyond drones into missiles, armored vehicles, naval platforms and defense electronics.
However, rising orders do not automatically translate into production capacity. Sustained growth will require Turkey to expand its entire defense industrial ecosystem. This includes expanding the supply lines for the smaller components that make the larger platforms, such as sensors, ruggedized electronics, specialized wiring, engines and specialty materials. Expansion will also require additional energy infrastructure and a larger workforce of trained engineers and specialized manufacturing workers. Developing this type of industrial depth will take years, particularly for advanced systems that still depend partly on foreign technology and suppliers.
