Turkey nearing $4 billion in annual defense exports

ANKARA — Turkey’s defense and aerospace exports in the first half of 2022 reached a record high of almost $2 billion, up 48 percent from the same period in 2021, official statistics revealed on July 19.

According to the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM), Turkish exports may come close to or exceed the $4 billion mark by the end of 2022, an annual all-time high.

“The rise in exports, which came after two years of decline during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, should be attributed primarily to aerospace, and home-made drones in particular,” said Ozgur Eksi, an Ankara-based defense analyst. “These numbers tell us that the Turkish industry’s dependence on local sales is diminishing and exports are helping Turkish companies to become self-sufficient.”

Turkey has supplied 96 drones to international clients, including Poland, the first European buyer of the famed TB-2, developed by Baykar Makina. Defense industry officials say potential buyers of Turkish-made drones include the United Kingdom, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovakia, Uruguay, and Albania.

According to SaSaD, an umbrella organization for Turkey’s defense and aerospace manufacturers, total business in 2021 reached $10.1 billion. Exports totaled to $3.2 billion, exceeding imports, at $2.6 billion, by 23 percent. Turkish companies won new orders worth $8.5 billion in the same year. The industry employs 75,000 people and spends $1.6 billion annually on research and development.

Burak Ege Bekdil was the Turkey correspondent for Defense News.

安卡拉——官方统计数据显示，土耳其2022年上半年国防和航空航天出口额达到创纪录的近20亿美元，比2021年同期增长48%，7月19日公布。

据土耳其出口商协会（TIM）称，到 2022 年底，土耳其出口额可能接近或超过 40 亿美元，创历史新高。

“在经历了2020年和2021年疫情期间的两年下滑之后，出口出现了增长，这主要应归功于航空航天领域，尤其是国产无人机，”安卡拉的国防分析师厄兹古尔·埃克西表示。“这些数据表明，土耳其工业对国内销售的依赖正在降低，出口正在帮助土耳其企业实现自给自足。”

土耳其已向包括波兰在内的国际客户交付了96架无人机。波兰是巴伊卡尔机械公司（Baykar Makina）研发的著名TB-2无人机的首个欧洲买家。国防工业官员表示，土耳其制造的无人机的潜在买家包括英国、匈牙利、拉脱维亚、立陶宛、沙特阿拉伯、波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那、塞尔维亚、斯洛伐克、乌拉圭和阿尔巴尼亚。

据土耳其国防和航空航天制造商协会（SaSaD）统计，2021年土耳其国防和航空航天制造业总营业额达101亿美元。其中，出口额达32亿美元，比进口额26亿美元高出23%。同年，土耳其企业获得新订单，总额达85亿美元。该行业拥有7.5万名员工，每年研发投入达16亿美元。

布拉克·埃格·贝克迪尔是《防务新闻》的土耳其记者。