Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Monday that a total of 203,824 people have applied for the paid military exemption introduced in 2014, surpassing the combined applications of the four previous exemptions that were introduced in 1987, 1992, 1999 and 2002 that stood at 193,147.Davutoğlu noted that TL 3.669 billion ($1.5 billion) has been paid in return and that this amount will be directly transferred to the Defense Industry Fund.There's no doubt that the amount collected from paid military exemption service will prove very beneficial for Turkey. The budget of Turkey's Ministry of National Defense for 2015, which covers the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Coast Guard, is TL 22,764 billion. Personnel expenses comprise 57 percent of this budget, while 41 percent is spared for goods and services purchases. In addition, Turkey also spares TL 17.623 billion for its police force and TL 6.49 billion for its gendarmerie forces.Concurrently, Turkey has an ongoing project to produce its own main battle tank, the Altay, and replace the army's core tank inventory. Turkey currently uses modernized versions of U.S.-made M48's of the 1950's and M60's of the 1960's in large numbers, in addition to German Leopard tank models of the 1970's and 1990's. The Altay project was initiated to replace this aging inventory, and the Army ordered the first batch for $2 billion. The recently paid military exemption has therefore covered almost the entire first batch of the Altay project, while it has provided almost one seventh of an entire year's defense budget.However, there are over 600 ongoing modernization projects to keep the Turkish Armed Forces compatible with recent technological developments, as well as newly emerging threats. In the short-term, Turkey aims to wholly design and produce infantry rifles and machine guns on its own, while there are ardent projects to supply the entire armed forces with equipment designed and produced in Turkey over time. The amount collected from paid military service would clearly be beneficial, but it is not nearly enough.Turkey seeks to produce 1,000 Altay tanks since it aims to decommission more than 1,300 M48's from service. The total cost of the project, including research, is expected to exceed $10 billion. It also aims to expand and renew its fighter inventory with 100 F-35's, the Joint Strike Fighter program of NATO alliance, which would cost around $100 million per unit and $10 billion in total.Particularly after the crisis in Syria, which has added to the turmoil and threat on Turkey's eastern and southern borders, the need for an effective air defense system has become urgent. Although the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, NATO-stationed Dutch Patriot SAM (surface-to-air missile) batteries arrived as late as January 2013. The Chinese company CPMIEC was awarded with a $4 billion contract to develop Turkey's SAM defense system in September 2013, which was later suspended due to NATO's objections.Turkey also has ongoing disputes with Greece and Greek Cyprus in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, while its relations with Israel have deteriorated over the last years. With the extra tension added to the region by the Arab Spring, the need for a responsive Navy has also increased. The successful evacuation of Turkish citizens along with many other nationals from Misratah, Libya in 2011 proved the best example for such readiness. Turkey aims to increase its naval force mainly by national projects, such as MILGEM. Six corvettes were contracted in 2013 for $1.5 billion, although the deal was later put on hold.All these expense items indicate that Turkey needs a radical change in its military structure, as it is likely not possible to maintain a 700,000-strong conscripted armed force while improving its technological capabilities matching its economic and political status in the region.