The Defence and Aerospace Industry Exporters" Association held an export strategy meeting in Antalya on the weekend. Professor Demir attended the meeting and held a press briefing on Saturday evening. Demir answered questions about Defence Industry.
Roketsan’s surface to surface anti-ship missile Atmaca’s status was one of the questions. Professor Ismail Demir stated the Atmaca Anti-Ship missile was delivered to the Turkish Navy.
TCG Kınalıada corvette, which is constructed under the programme of MILGEM (National Vessel), can launch such a missile. Entire naval tests of the Atmaca missile was carried out from that vessel. TCG Kınalıada becomes the first Atmaca carrier ship in the Turkish Navy with this delivery.
Answering a question about Turkish Aerospace ( TUSAŞ) basic trainer Hürkuş’s demonstration flights in Azerbaijan, Demir said, "Hürkuş draws attention from Azerbaijan. I hope we will see important developments there soon."
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have recently deepened relations. In response to the question of whether there will be a new cooperation with the UAE in the defence industry, Demir said, “According to the figures in export volume, certain works continue even in the crisis period. We know that Turkey"s position and level attract their attention. Even when the relations are not very warm, there was a contact even in this period; I would like to state that this contact will be more advanced. There will be significant export opportunities when normalised. We are in the very early stages, but we will see these developments to become a reality."
The
LHD ship TCG Anadolu is launched, and the industry waits for commissioning. Demir
indicated that they want to speed up the delivery process and integrate some of
the systems after the delivery. "We
thought it would be possible to do some of the detailed work after the ship
gets into the inventory. We are trying to see if it could be a little earlier.
The project regarding the deployment of the UAV / Armed UAV on the ship
continues on the one hand. We have a plan to put our ship into service as it
was in its original design, to mature Bayraktar TB3"s work on the other hand and
to integrate it into the ship an opportunity when it is ready."
The currency exchange rate has experienced dramatic changes. The effects of such waives were asked to Demir. Demir’s answer indicated another aspect of such waives. According to Demir, this change may have a positive effect on defence industry projects, "We say that our companies will show a greater appetite for localisation of sub-systems and will look for subcontractors, with the costs of foreign currency indexed ones. When we made our budgets, we classified foreign products into different categories. There are two types of imported products. Those that can be produced locally and those should be imported. While signing agreements with companies, we attached importance to the localisation of dollar-based imported products. We were encouraging studies in this direction. In this sense, we can emphasise its positive contribution. We have the capacity and ability to withstand the impact.
The engine for Altay Main Battle Tank from the Republic of Korea was another concern. Demir is positive about the engine. “There has been a slowdown on the Korean side in this regard due to the effect of the epidemic. During the visit of our Foreign Minister, this issue was brought up again, and an export permit issue was signed. Subsequently, a memorandum of understanding will be signed with Korea. They also have a few transactions in the lower-level bureaucracy. After they are completed, we will sign, and we have a plan to meet them face to face in February.
On the other hand, Turkey has developed two engines (1000 and 1500 hp) and transmission systems locally. “Both our engine and transmission system in the 1000 hp group are at the testing phase. Integrated tests are ongoing. The second group is in the 1500 hp class engine, which is the engine of the Altay MBT. The tests are continuing. The transmission integration phase has been reached. In other words, one transmission is working now, and the second one is at a certain stage of the engine test. We will see it under harsh conditions. "
The works for the Turkish Combat Aircraft (TF-X) programme will start with the F110 engine, and there is no problem with the supply of engines; Demir said that the call for proposal document includes a domestic engine in Turkey.
Emphasising that this document will be slightly different from the classical call for proposal documents, Demir said:
"This has been published to potential players in Turkey"s national jet engine journey, and they will come together to reconsider this proposal, create a roadmap for domestic engine production, and form a strategy of walking hand in hand on a roadmap where all existing capabilities in Turkey are on the table. Because Turkey does not have a very deep history in this matter, we do not have many experienced engineers and designers. Therefore, we do not have the luxury of dividing them into 3-4 parts, so we have to combine them and work them together in a coordinated manner. We have important capabilities in manufacturing engine at TEI.”
Turkish removal from the F-35 programme was asked. Demir, reminded that the USA applies CAATSA to SSB, said, “America has very clear statements regarding the F-35, that Turkey has been removed from the program. Now, we have to find a way to deal with the partnership fee for the program. The cost of the planes is being discussed."
India acquires the S-400 Air Defence system, and there is no CAATSA foreseen for India. Two different approaches were raised at the briefing. Demir was clear about the Turkish position: We watched the case closely. We see that the U.S. want to make an exception for India. In this sense, U.S.’s attitude will be a litmus paper in that case.
Demir has also said that the heavy torpedo Akya was test-fired for training. This fire means that the warhead was inert.
