Turkey’s defense exports hit record high of $7.1 billion in 2024

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;

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.

伊斯坦布尔——据土耳其国防工业局局长哈鲁克·格尔根称，土耳其2024年的国防出口总额为71亿美元，比2023年的55亿美元大幅增长。

这一增长反映了该行业不断扩大的全球影响力，去年已遍及 180 个国家。与此同时，土耳其企业正在为土耳其武装部队生产更复杂的平台，如无人机、军舰和电子战系统。

格尔根在周末于安塔利亚举行的全球国防和航空航天产业战略大会上公布了2024年的研究成果。此次大会由国防和航空航天产业出口商协会（SSI）和土耳其国防工业局（SSB）联合举办，汇聚了来自全球主要国防和工业企业的首席执行官和业务拓展经理。

根据土耳其国防工业协会（SSB）的统计，土耳其十大国防出口国是：

Baykar：18亿美元；

TUSAŞ航空：7.5亿美元；

ASFAT：6.44亿美元；

Arca Defense：6亿美元；

TUSAŞ 发动机：3.9 亿美元；

阿塞尔桑：2.17亿美元；

RAM外贸（Otokar）：1.93亿美元；

Roketsan：1.79亿美元；

萨姆松蒙古包防御：1.66亿美元

这些数据代表的是各公司的直接海外销售额，不包括间接销售额。间接销售额是指一家公司的产品作为子系统用于另一家公司的出口产品中，例如将阿塞尔桑公司的光电传感器集成到拜卡公司的无人机中。

据阿塞尔桑公司称，该公司2024年的间接出口额为2.91亿美元，使公司总出口额达到5.08亿美元。截至发稿时，其他公司的间接出口数据尚未公开。

排名前十的受援国包括美国、捷克、罗马尼亚、波兰、斯洛伐克和保加利亚，它们都是北约成员国。

独立国防分析师阿尔达·梅夫吕托格鲁表示，近年来，无人机、弹药、步兵武器和陆地车辆的销售额在对欧洲和美国的出口中所占份额越来越大。

“亚太地区一直是土耳其国防部门的主要目标市场之一，”梅夫吕托格鲁补充道，“但我们现在看到土耳其国防部门正大力开拓美国和欧洲市场。”

分析师表示，过去20年里，国防产品在土耳其出口总额中的占比稳步上升。

“到2024年，国防销售将占出口总额的2.7%以上。实现5%的份额似乎是一个现实的短期目标，这可以通过出售更大、更先进的平台来实现，”他说道。

杰姆·德夫里姆·亚伊拉利是《防务新闻》驻土耳其记者。他热衷于拍摄军舰，并对海军和国防议题充满热情。他出生于法国巴黎，现居土耳其伊斯坦布尔。他已婚，育有一子。