As the Defence Industry Agency (SSB) is run under the Presidency, Vice President Yılmaz made the declaration.
Yılmaz said that while only 56 companies were operating in the defence industry in 2002, today, this number has exceeded 3 thousand, and the number of projects, which was 62, has exceeded 850.
Stating that defence industry projects have reached a size of over 90 billion dollars with a 16-fold increase, Yılmaz noted that while the budget allocated to R&D in the field of defence industry was 49 million dollars in 2002, today it exceeds 2 billion dollars annually. Yılmaz said, “Our exports, which were 248 million dollars in 2002, are expected to reach 6 billion dollars in 2023.”
Stating that this year, the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu, the world’s first UCAV ship and Turkey’s largest military ship, was put into service of the Naval Forces, Yılmaz stated that the mass production of the first national combat unmanned marine vehicle, ULAQ, has started.
Reminding that the maiden flight of the fighter jet KAAN is aimed to be carried out by the end of the year, Yılmaz also conveyed the stages reached in other projects implemented in the defence industry.
Stating that the “Innovative and Advanced Technologies Participation Venture Capital Investment Fund” was established to support venture capital investments in the defence industry and that the Fund is expected to reach 1 billion liras in size in the medium term, Yılmaz said, “Next year, we will continue to strengthen our ecosystem with new defence industry achievements and innovative projects that make our nation proud. “
Yılmaz announced that the Presidency’s final account expenditure for 2022 is 252 million 292 thousand lira and that in addition to the total appropriation of 837 million 52 thousand lira for the institution’s expenditures in the 2024 budget, a resource of 78 billion 852 million lira is envisaged to be transferred to the Defence Industry Support Fund for project expenditures.
