Turkiye pushes up its defense production to end external dependency

Turkiye’s national moves in the field of defense industry have once again revealed the contribution of domestic production to the country’s economy. The rapid increase in the rate of domestic and national production in the Turkish defense industry, the ‘nationalization’ process, has allowed many military technologies to be produced domestically, reducing external dependency. This has caused a significant decrease in the ratio of the country’s military expenditures to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to the Turkish Exporters Assembly, Turkiye’s defense exports have grown during this period, rising from $250 million in 2002 to $5.5 billion in 2023.
Thanks to Turkey's moves in the field of defense and the national solutions developed, the ratio of defense expenditures to Gross Domestic Product has decreased, defense capacity and contribution to the economy have increased. The 'nationalization' process of the Turkish defense industry has allowed many military technologies to be produced domestically, thus reducing external dependency.

Many strategic products, especially unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UCAVs), armored land vehicles, national ships, missiles and radar systems, are now produced with domestic resources. The leading projects are UAV/UCAV projects such as Bayraktar TB2, Bayraktar Ak?nc?, Anka, Aksungur. These are supported by ammunition, missiles, weapon systems, national ships and military land vehicles.

Domestic production reduces import costs

Domestic production has significantly reduced import costs while also providing strategic autonomy by reducing external dependency. While 50 percent of Turkey’s military and defense expenditures between 1970 and 1979 were comprised of imports, this rate dropped below 10 percent in 2000 and later. While the localization rate in the defense industry was 20 percent in 2002, this rate reached 75-80 percent in 2023. This success has greatly reduced the cost of foreign purchases and increased the technology production capacity of domestic companies.

According to the Turkish Exporters Assembly data, Turkey's defense exports also grew in this period, rising from $250 million in 2002 to $5.5 billion in 2023. This also showed the contribution of domestic production to the country's economy.

Contributed to the strengthening of national security

The increase in domestic and national technologies has not only reduced costs but also enabled Turkey to become a more independent actor in the defense industry. The development of national technologies has contributed to the strengthening of national security by reducing the external dependency of critical systems in the inventory. In addition, technologies obtained through domestic production have increased Turkey's defense exports, brought foreign currency to the country, and contributed to economic growth.

While defense industry projects contribute to Turkey's military, economic and technological development, they also positively affect the number of businesses and employment in this field.

The burden of military spending on the budget has eased

According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Turkey focused on strengthening its regional and global influence by increasing its defense spending in the early 2000s, but with the development of its domestic and national defense industry, the ratio of military spending to economic growth has declined over the years.

In 2001, Turkey's defense expenditures were 7.2 billion dollars, corresponding to 3.6 percent of Turkey's GDP in the same year. At that time, the defense industry was faced with high costs due to its heavy dependence on foreign sources.

This rate, which rose to 3.8 percent in 2002, began to decline in the following years thanks to the increase in domestic production capacity . By 2023, although Turkey's defense spending had risen to 17 billion dollars, the ratio of these spending to GDP had declined to 1.5 percent.

The use of domestic and national technologies in national defense was effective in this decline. Thus, economic costs decreased and the burden of military expenditures on the budget was eased.