Pakistan is readying its Murid Air Base to take delivery of the Turkish Akinci drones, the UAVs that both Indonesia and Malaysia are eyeing. Despite getting pariah status in NATO, Turkey is regaining the influence of its Ottoman days by emerging as a major weapon supplier to Islamic countries.
Islamic countries are all too evidently weaning away from American defense imports in favor of the Turkish platform. Land platforms are the top technological export category from the Turkish defense industry, followed by sales of military aircraft, guns, and ammunition. Similarly, Turkey has positioned itself as a prominent player in the international market for armed drones, most notably with the Bayraktar TB-2, built with the support of UK bomb rack technology.
In recent times, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Maldives, and even Saudi Arabia have leaned heavily on Ankara to source their weapons. Turkey has carved a niche for itself in the defense export market.
The Bayraktar Akinci and Anka drones manufactured by the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and the Bayraktar TB2 drones made by Baykar Technology have fortified the country’s reputation as a leading defense manufacturer.
Indonesia, after deciding to buy 45 indigenously developed Turkish Atmaca anti-ship guided missiles from Turkey and 12 Anka drones for its army, air force, and navy, has shown interest in the Bayraktar TB2 drone. The 12 Anka drones are expected to be delivered by 2025. The Indonesian officials have already visited the facilities of Baykar Technology and seen a flight demonstration of the unmanned combat aerial vehicle.
The Indonesian Navy has shown interest in acquiring Bayraktar Akinci and Anka UCAVs, made by the TAI. Baykar and TAI are also prepared to collaborate with Indonesia’s Dirgantara Indonesia aerospace firm.
Turkey has been developing the Atmaca missile to replace its American-built AGM-84 Harpoons.
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Another Islamic country, Pakistan, also received around 6-7 Akinci A drones in April 2023 and actively deployed them. In the second tranche, it is expected to receive Akinci B drones equipped with superior engines.
The neighborhood island country of Maldives also received three Turkish-built Bayraktar TB2 drones into service for its new Air Corps tasked with monitoring the island nation’s maritime region. The Bayraktar TB2 is now used by 33 countries, and the global fleet achieved a cumulative 750,000 flight hours last December. Manufacturer Baykar declared exports worth a record $1.76 billion in 2023.
Conflicts Fuelling Demand For Turkish Drones
Before the war in Ukraine broke out, around 14 countries were operating TB2 drones. But the PR blitzkrieg followed by the Ukraine war showed TB2 drones taking out equipment like surface-to-air missiles and aiding other aircraft and artillery targets in Moscow’s forces.
Ukraine has produced propaganda videos of TB2 strikes on Russian forces, including a catchy song extolling the drones’ prowess on the battlefield.
This gained more customers for TB2s. The drones promised lethal technology to the smallest militaries in the world, which was once gatekept by Western countries.
Even US lawmakers categorized the Turkish drone as a crucial weapon for Ukraine. In Lithuania, a recent crowdfunding campaign raised $5.4 million in three and a half days to help Ukraine purchase another TB2.
Before Ukraine, Azerbaijan had successfully deployed these drones against Armenia.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia agreed to purchase Turkish drones in what is the largest defense contract between the two countries. The Akinci drones will be used in Saudi Arabia’s air and navy forces. The latest order makes Saudi Arabia the third confirmed Gulf operator of Turkish Baykar drones after Qatar and Kuwait.
At this point, UAVs have shown that they are not only a military platform but also the dominant player in Turkey’s defense market, with Baykar alone accounting for $1.7 billion (TL 54.6 billion) of Turkey’s exports in 2023.
Turkey’s Diversified Exports
Apart from drones, Turkey’s missiles have found many customers. In November 2022, Turkey’s missile manufacturer Roketsan signed a contract with Indonesia to supply the Khan short-range ballistic missile, the export version of Turkey’s Bora-1 SRBM. This made Indonesia the first foreign operator of the Turkish short-range ballistic missile.
Turkey has been building its defense industry since the 1980s following an arms embargo by the US and NATO allies following Turkish intervention in Cyprus in 1974. The vision for a strong defense industry received impetus under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
During his speech at the opening ceremony for the launching of the Kinaliada Corvette, the fourth ship of the MİLGEM (national ship) Project, Erdogan stated: ‘‘Today, we have five firms among the world’s top 100 defense companies. This number will, inshallah (God willing), increase constantly. Our goal is to entirely end our foreign dependency in the defense industry by 2023.”
It seems that Turkey is gradually moving toward achieving such a goal.
Turkey’s defense industry’s strength has been its NATO-standard compliant, state-of-the-art indigenous products, which are made available at a cheaper price compared to normal market prices, along with technology transfer and local production options.
In April 2023, Turkey launched the largest warship, TCG Anadolu, the world’s first ship to carry armed drones. A 2024 report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that Turkey’s arms exports increased by 106 percent over the past four years, making it the 11th top exporter of arms worldwide.
According to the report, Turkey’s arms exports surged by 106 percent from 2014-2018 to 2019–2023, while its share of global arms exports stood at 1.6 percent in the same period. As documented by SIPRI, this makes it the 11th largest exporter in the world among 66 countries exporting arms.
During the 2014-18 period, Turkey’s share of global arms exports was 0.7 percent. The United Arab Emirates was the leading importer of arms from Turkey in the 2019-23 period, making up 15 percent of Turkey’s arms exports, followed by Qatar at 13 percent and Pakistan at 11 percent.
Ankara has been exporting an array of conventional weapons, including aircraft, armored vehicles, ships, and missiles. However, as reported by SIPRI, Turkey still depends on Western technologies, particularly motorization, despite its success in positioning itself as an emerging supplier in some niche groups of armaments.
After being ousted from the F-35 development program, Turkey is set on the path of developing its 5th generation fighter jet, which has already conducted its first flight. There have been reports of Azerbaijan and Pakistan keen to join the development program.
There have been reports that Pakistan could become the second foreign partner to join the KAAN program in 2023, following Azerbaijan, which officially committed itself to the program in July.
For its part, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has shown interest in the TAI TF-X several times; in 2019, then-chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), Air Marshal Ahmer Shahzad, reportedly said, “Turkey’s T-FX is in line with what the PAF wants.”
Turkey’s four-year-old firm Askeri Fabrika ve Tersane Isletme A.S., known as ASFAT, is already making waves in the export sector. While many of its biggest projects have come from the naval sector, it hopes to become a hub in aircraft maintenance and overhaul for Europe, Asia, and Middle East countries next.
In addition to working with the Turkish military, the company’s largest ongoing project is with the Pakistani force, a $1.5 billion deal to provide four ships for Islamabad’s navy. ASFAT also has projects with Azerbaijan and Burkina Faso for MEMATT minesweepers and a transport aircraft retrofit agreement with Airbus.
Turkey has been exporting 230 types of products to 185 countries in different geographies. Turkey is meeting the needs of Europe for military ammunition, which has increased its arms imports due to the war in Ukraine, and this is recapitalizing Turkey’s role as an important player in Europe’s emerging defense and security architecture.
