President Erdogan: We are increasing our defense industry budget to 75 billion dollars – Last Minute Türkiye News

„WE STARTED THE PERIOD OF DOMESTIC AND NATIONAL PROJECTS IN 2004“

Recalling that with the decisions taken at the Defense Industry Executive Committee in May 2004, President Erdoğan started the period of domestic and national projects instead of foreign purchases, and continued as follows:

„At the end of the developments that started after this decision, the number of defense industry projects, which was 62 in our country, reached 750, and the number of defense industry companies, which was 56, reached 2,700. From where to where? To believe… When we came to the government, defense projects with a budget of approximately 5.5 billion dollars. Today, this figure has exceeded 60 billion dollars. Today, it is out of question for a single company to operate in any field of the defense industry. Development and production activities continue from many different branches, not only in SİHAs, but in all areas. We have seen the important benefits of the competitive environment in our effort to reach the best Now, we are increasing our defense industry budget to 75 billion dollars with the projects whose tender process continues.“

„WE HAVE REACHED A VERY GOOD LEVEL IN REDUCING OUR EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE“

Emphasizing that this expansion will bring new breakthroughs in every field, from the number of companies to exports, President Erdoğan noted that the industry has shown great effort until it reaches this point.

Expressing that the annual budget allocated to research and development in the defense industry has increased from $ 49 million to over $ 1.5 billion, Erdoğan said:

„The fact that the exports of the sector have reached a record level of 4 billion 400 million dollars by 2022 from 248 million dollars is also a sign of this. Thanks to our upright stance and determination in the domestic and national defense industry, we have reached a very good level in reducing our dependence on foreign sources. Our domestic rate was 20 percent when we took office, but now Increasing it to 80 percent is a historical success that will be better understood in the future due to its importance. Today, the Turkish defense industry has reached a level that can meet the needs of security units in everything from design to development, from research and development to innovation and mass production. We are no longer just with vehicles, now we are in ammunition. Every „Now, there are demands from us in domestic and foreign ammunition. We meet the needs brought before us by our ongoing operations in different geographies, again through our defense industry.“

Stating that they are preparing for the combat environment of the future while continuing their current projects and following the technological advances, Erdoğan said, „We are particularly pleased that our defense industry products, which are successfully used by our security forces in their domestic and international operations, are starting to take their place in the inventories of friendly countries.“ he said.

Expressing that they will work harder to meet the needs of the security forces locally and nationally on land, in the air, at sea and in cyberspace, Erdoğan said that air defense system with his plane, helicopter, SİHA, ship, armored vehicle, electronic warfare and radar systems with missiles and ammunition, laser and radar systems. He said that they will not stop until they bring Turkey to the place it deserves in the world without leaving any gaps with its electromagnetic weapons.

„OUR SİDA’S STARTED TO BE FOLLOWED IN THE WORLD LIKE OUR SİHAs“

President Erdogan said:

„The level we have reached is of course important, but there is still a lot of work we need to do to overcome the secret and open embargoes against our country. The security of the blue homeland has become much more important in this critical period we are in. We are behind our efforts to have a stronger and deterrent navy for our country. „There is a need. Will we achieve these as well? We will succeed without any worries and we will succeed by diversifying. Because there is no collective defense system or attack in general. We have to achieve these by diversifying. Until today, our MİLGEMs, amphibious tank landing ships, intelligence ship, We have brought many products to our army such as our submarine rescue ships, Tuzla class patrol ships, coast guard boats, fast patrol and SAT boats. We have successfully applied the experience we gained from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to unmanned sea vehicles, and thank God we have become one of the leading countries in the world in this field. At the most advanced technological level. Our SİDAs, which we have developed, have begun to be followed with envy in the world, just like our SİHAs.“

Erdogan said that not only ships were produced, but also many technologies were developed, from weapon systems to radars, from information systems to electronic warfare, to be used on ships.

„The fact that Turkey is one of the 10 countries that design, develop, build and maintain its own ship is not a dry slogan, it is an achievement to be proud of.“ Erdogan said that this success was achieved with the exemplary cooperation of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Interior, the Presidency of Defense Industries, military and civilian shipyards, hundreds of subcontractors, SMEs, universities and research centers.

Pointing out that with each project they completed and saw the result of, their determination and enthusiasm increased, Erdoğan said that they set 2023 as a milestone for many projects in the defense industry.

President Erdoğan said, „Today, we have started to realize our giant projects with a 2023 calendar, one by one. As we have here, our country’s second largest ship, Derya, our naval resupply and combat support ship, our Piri Reis submarine, our first stowage class frigate Istanbul will be put into service again this year, I hope. We are ahead of schedule in air defense systems in projects that will bring our air power to the top, especially in our Combat Aircraft.“ he said.

TCG ANATOLIAN SHIP TO BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC VISIT

Emphasizing that he will have many good news in the field of defense industry in the coming months, Erdoğan continued as follows:

„Everyone should see and accept the fact that the security of a strengthening and growing Turkey now begins beyond its own borders. With this understanding, we will continue to increase the number of such projects in order to protect and develop our country’s interests in the international arena. We will continue the construction of the Turkish Century by advancing on the safe path that our defense industry has paved the way for us. „I wish the ships we commissioned and cut sheet metal to be beneficial to our country, our army, and our Naval Forces Command. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the construction and equipping of our ships.“

Expressing that he wanted to announce another news to the nation on this occasion, President Erdoğan said, „We will pull TCG Anadolu from here to Sirkeci and open our TCG Anadolu ship to our people in Sirkeci. We want our people to come and tour our TCG Anadolu ship. Only we should not be proud, Let’s give our people the opportunity to be proud of TCG Anadolu as a nation.“ he said.

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