According to foreign media reports, recently, Türkiye's Defense Industry Bureau announced that in the first half of this year, the country's total export of weapons and equipment set a new half year record in Türkiye. In recent years, Türkiye's export of weapons and equipment has grown rapidly, and its influence in the international arms market has gradually increased. In January of this year, Türkiye announced that the total export of weapons and equipment in 2024 would increase 29% year on year to reach a record high of 7.154 billion US dollars, ranking 11th in the global list of weapons and equipment exports. For 2025, Türkiye has set a goal of US $7.3 billion and hopes to enter the top ten in the world. The data released this time shows that Türkiye has basically completed its half year target. From January to June this year, Türkiye's total export of weapons and equipment was about 3.603 billion US dollars, up 25% year on year. Among them, the highest export value was in March, about 884 million US dollars; The year-on-year growth rate in April was the most significant, reaching 54%; In May, the only month where there was a year-on-year decline, the export value also reached 742 million US dollars. Analysis indicates that this is a normal market fluctuation phenomenon, and the overall development trend is still on the rise. In addition to the transactions already concluded, Türkiye is also promoting cooperation in the field of arms and equipment export. In mid June, at the Indonesian Defense Exhibition, the Indonesian Ministry of Defense signed a letter of intent with Türkiye Aerospace Industry Corporation to purchase 48 "Khan" fighter jets. It is reported that the details of the formal contract will be finalized as soon as possible, and the total amount may exceed 10 billion US dollars. Haruk Gorgon, director of Türkiye's Defense Industry Bureau, expressed optimism about the export prospects of weapons and equipment this year. In an interview, he said that based on the achievements made so far, Türkiye is expected to export between 8 billion and 8.5 billion dollars of weapons and equipment this year. Deepening the development potential, some analysts pointed out that the rapid growth of Türkiye's arms and equipment export is the result of multiple factors. On the basis of sustainable development in recent years, Türkiye has made outstanding efforts in the following three aspects in the first half of this year. We attach great importance to both leading enterprises and focusing on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Five Türkiye companies are on the annual list of the top 100 global defense companies released by the US "Defense News" website. Türkiye attaches importance to the leading role of leading defense enterprises and intends to promote the overall development of defense industry from point to area. For example, with the support of national policies, Baika Group has developed rapidly and achieved good export results. In 2023, the export volume of the company will account for about one-third of Türkiye's total export volume of weapons and equipment, and will account for one fourth in 2024. At the same time, Türkiye has accelerated the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises to join the national defense industry system. At present, there are about 1500 defense related SMEs in Türkiye. In January of this year, Haruk Gorgon stated that he would help small and medium-sized enterprises expand their export business to promote sustainable development of the defense industry. Deeply cultivating advantageous fields while expanding into emerging areas. According to Türkiye's National Defense Industry Agency, since 2018, Türkiye's UAV exports account for 65% of the global UAV market. The country has exported various types of drones to more than 50 countries, with a total export of over 400 TB-2 drones, its flagship product. In order to maintain the advantages of Türkiye's UAVs in the international market, the country has taken dual measures. On the one hand, carry out technical cooperation. In March, Baica Group signed a memorandum of cooperation with Leonardo da Vinci of Italy to establish an LBA drone joint venture. Baica Group will lead the development of drone related technologies, while Leonardo will be responsible for task system design and other aspects, jointly developing the next generation of drones. On the other hand, we need to strengthen the foundation for development. At the end of June, Baika Group completed the acquisition of Italian Biacho Airlines, planned to use its mature production facilities to expand the TB-2 and "Raider" UAV production lines, and build Türkiye's UAV maintenance center in Europe. At the same time, Türkiye has accelerated the research and development of emerging technologies to get rid of the dilemma that key elements of weapons and equipment are controlled by others. In April, Türkiye's media said that Türkiye would launch a domestic global positioning and navigation system to improve the safety, reliability and autonomy of weapons and equipment by using the precise location and navigation data provided by its own satellites. Consolidate traditional markets while exploring new markets. Türkiye's weapons and equipment are mainly exported to countries in the Middle East and Europe. Data shows that in the past five years, about 32.1% of Türkiye's exports of weapons and equipment went to Middle East countries, with the United Arab Emirates as the main export target, accounting for 18%. In 2022, after the outbreak of local conflicts in Europe, NATO European member states generally increased their defense budgets and increased their procurement of weapons and equipment. Türkiye seized this opportunity to accelerate the expansion of the European market and export unmanned aerial vehicles, armored vehicles, artillery, electronic optical reconnaissance systems and other weapons and equipment to European countries. In order to maintain a good momentum, in January this year, Haruk Gorgon met successively with the Secretary General of NATO, the Director of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, the Director of the European Defense Agency, etc., to discuss the details of expanding defense cooperation, hoping to better and faster integrate Türkiye's defense capabilities into the overall framework of NATO and the EU. In April, Türkiye reached an agreement with Romania to sell a Hisar class patrol ship to Romania for use as a frigate. In the same period, Türkiye signed a contract with Portugal to build two maritime supply and support ships for Portugal. These two transactions opened a new prospect for Türkiye to export naval ships to EU member states. This year, in addition to continuing to strengthen cooperation with traditional partners, Türkiye has also stepped up its efforts to explore the market in Southeast Asia. Shortly after signing the letter of intent for large-scale cooperation with Indonesia, Türkiye's defense industry delegation visited Bangladesh, and the two sides exchanged views on weapons and equipment procurement. In addition, Türkiye continues to look for potential customers in Africa and has sold weapons and equipment to at least 24 African countries. In general, Türkiye's export of weapons and equipment is on the increase in the face of multiple challenges, but some people believe that Türkiye needs to deal with many challenges in the process of continuously expanding the export scale. Internally, Türkiye's economic strength is limited, and its fiscal deficit and inflation problems persist. In 2025, Türkiye's defense budget will double the previous year, reaching $47 billion, but the annual R&D expenditure is only $2 billion, significantly lagging behind other major arms exporting countries. Whether Türkiye can maintain its comparative technological advantage in the future is still unknown. At the same time, considering the modernization and upgrading of Türkiye's military, its incomplete industrial system and limited industrial capacity may cast a shadow on the future export of weapons and equipment. For example, the delivery time of Istanbul class frigates ordered by Türkiye's navy has been scheduled beyond 2027, which may affect the export progress of this type of warships. From an external perspective, there are new changes in the European market, and competitors continue to make efforts. In March of this year, the European Union proposed the goal of "better, more united, and more Europeanized" equipment development, calling on member states to increase joint procurement of weapons and equipment and reduce procurement of equipment from non EU countries. This may have a negative impact on Türkiye, which has not yet joined the European Union, and weaken its competitiveness in the European arms market. Meanwhile, other non EU countries are also intensifying their efforts to expand their business in the region. Take South Korea as an example. In recent years, it has continued to take a number of measures to expand the export scale of weapons and equipment, and made some progress in the European market. Its product exports have formed direct competitive pressure on Türkiye. To sum up, Türkiye still has a long way to go if it wants to occupy an important position in the international arms market. (New Society)