Turkey will gradually develop an air defense system which will be integrated into the NATO system, the Deputy Defense Minister of Turkey, Ismail Demir, said in an interview with the Hurriyet newspaper, adding that joint work with NATO would accelerate the process.
“We did not cancel the project, but just scrapped the bidding. We will soon enter to a new development process, in which our local companies, including Roketsan and Havelsan, will take part. We have already continued our projects to develop systems with medium, high and low ranges… We will gradually extend the ranges. As we will not make any direct acquisition, our gradually developed system will be integrated into NATO’s system. We believe that any joint work with NATO will accelerate the process,” Demir said.
“Our aim is to reach 100% locality in such products, as the dependability on foreign sources in these fields is always a problem. Although Turkey has been a late comer in local defense production, its sector has now reached some $15 billion project development capacity while employing more than 35,000 people,” the Hurriyet newspaper cited him as saying.
Demir noted that Turkey’s defense exports were currently around $1.67 billion, and the country’s target was to increase this figure to $25 billion in the next seven years.
