Istanbul Saha Expo Defense Industry set to showcase state-of-the-art military products

By Azernews

By Burak Dogan/ Rabia Senol

Turkiye’s Istanbul city is hosting Saha Expo Defense, Aerospace Industry Fair, Yeni Shafak reports.

The Saha Expo 2022 Defense Aviation and Space Industry Fair, which kicked off on October 25 at the Istanbul Congress Center, demonstrates Turkiye's achievements in the defense industry sector. The international fair, which will continue through October 28, drew over 1,000 domestic and foreign enterprises from 57 countries. For the first time, 126 new products from 35 different companies are being displayed at the fair.

Ilhami Keles, Secretary-General of Saha Expo, said that the exhibition offers a worldwide venue for game-changing, innovative technologies that highlight Turkiye's brand value. Turkiye continues to cement its defense capabilities with homegrown products, reducing its reliance on foreign suppliers. In the past 20 years, the percentage of domestic production in the military industry has reached 80 percent.

Keles underlined that both local and foreign items will be promoted at the fair, adding that the fair is not a marketplace for foreigners to sell their products, but rather a venue for international interaction.

Roketsan General Manager Murat Ikinci stressed that the fair provides a good opportunity for Turkish military industries to demonstrate their capabilities and the company will introduce a new product at the expo.

“Our primary objective as Roketsan is to expand through exports. In this context, the Turkish military industry's interest in missile technology, particularly smart ammunition employed by unmanned aerial vehicles, indicates that we will attain these aims relatively fast in years to come,” he emphasized.

STM General Manager Ozgur Guleryuz, on the other hand, stressed that Saha Expo provides chances for new business opportunities. A good atmosphere has been created for Turkish enterprises to serve the development of the defense and aerospace sectors, as well as analyze their foreign commercial prospects.

“We are currently attempting to bring the manned submarine, codenamed STM 500, to the forefront due to the fact that the employment of unmanned submarines is still rather limited. Communication is the most difficult issue at sea. Unless the communication problem is solved, the unmanned submarine must be connected or come out of the water at regular intervals to communicate with a satellite or UAV,” Guleryuz said.

The fair is attended by 268 official delegations from 57 nations, including a foreign prime minister, 11 foreign ministers, and 60 delegations from 37 countries. Some 112 trade delegations from 25 countries, 390 foreign companies, as well as 567 local enterprises are taking part in the event. There will be nine international panels hosted throughout the exhibition. A symposium on space advancements and research in Turkiye will feature two keynote speakers. Many companies will be able to introduce new products. Programs will be broadcast through five separate satellite frequencies from various locations across the fair.

Saha Expo, sponsored by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, and supported by 207 sponsors, is established on an area of 60,000 square meters in six halls. Everything in the area has been designed for the convenience of businesses and visitors. The Silk Road system has been specifically constructed to allow guests easy access to the stands.

The exhibition will feature 126 new goods from 35 firms for the first time this year. Sarbot, an unmanned armed robot, produced by Sarsilmaz Arms Industry, is one of these products.

Oner Ozyildiz, Deputy General Manager of Sarsilmaz Arms Industry, said that Sarbot is a robot, which has been developed for the unmanned war concept of the future. Emphasizing that Sarbot can carry a weapon of any caliber, Ozyildiz said that "we can also develop versions that can carry ammunition for the use of our army".

The fair-specific software, Saha Match has been developed to analyze company characteristics and select the best-suited firm, facilitating interaction between the companies.