President Erdoğan: We will add atmaca to the TAF’s inventory by the end of the year

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of Roketsan’s Satellite Launching, Space Systems and Advanced Technologies Research Center and Explosive Raw Material Production Plant.

“In the past 18 years, we have worked to make up for our losses and carry Turkey to the summit in defense industry. We have revived our paralyzed – so to speak – defense industry. With the inspiration we drew from our ancestors’ glorious legacy, we have reduced our external dependency in defense industry from around 70% to around 30%,” President Erdoğan said.

“IN THE PAST 5 YEARS, WE HAVE LAUNCHED NEARLY 350 DEFENSE PROJECTS”

Pointing to the emphasis Turkey placed on domestic production, President Erdoğan said: “We have kept raising our domestic production rate with our policy of not purchasing any product, we can produce with our own means, from abroad. In 2002, there 62 ongoing defense projects in Turkey. Today, that number has neared 700. In the past 5 years, we have launched nearly 350 projects. In 2002, the total budget of the defense projects was $5.5 billion. Today, we have reached a project volume of $60 billion. Over this period, the number of defense industry companies has risen from 56 to 1 500. In 2002, the turnover of the defense industry was $1 billion. In 2019, it has reached $11 billion.”

“We have 7 companies in the top 100 global defense companies list. In addition to meeting our own needs in land and naval vehicles, we are among 10 countries that can design, build and maintain their own war ship,” President Erdoğan said.

Highlighting the rising share and power of Turkish defense industry companies in the world market, President Erdoğan said: “We are among the top 3-4 countries in the world in terms of producing UAVs and UCAVs.”

“WE WILL ADD ATMACA TO THE TAF’S INVENTORY BY THE END OF THE YEAR”

Regarding Turkey’s first domestically produced maritime missile, Atmaca, President Erdoğan said: “With its range of over 200 kilometers, Atmaca flies just a few meters above sea level. It cannot be detected by enemy elements’ radars. When launched upon a specific target, Atmaca can destroy its target even if it moves. With its specifications, Atmaca has made our country one of the five countries that can produce anti-ship missiles. We will add Atmaca, the apple of the eye of our military, to the Turkish Armed Forces’ inventory by the end of the year.

Noting that the Micro-Satellite Launch System project is aimed to be completed by 2025, President Erdoğan said: “This project will enable Turkey to place micro-satellites weighing 100 kilograms or less into low-Earth orbit with an altitude of at least 400 kilometers. Turkey will have the infrastructure to launch, test and produce satellites and gain the ability to establish bases.” Underscoring that Turkey’s first sounding rocket, launched by means of national technologies, passed the Kármán Line, reaching an altitude of 130 kilometers, President Erdoğan said: “Turkey has taken its first step into the space with its nationally- developed projects. We are now in the space league with our domestic, national technologies.”

“I hereby would like to announce the good news that we are set to begin the first space trials of our domestically developed liquid-propellant rocket engine technology,” President Erdoğan said.