President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday that the project value of the contracts signed during the 16th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) 2023 is TL 56.5 billion.
The president was speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.
He said a total of 1,461 companies, both local and foreign, were represented at the fair.
IDEF'23 broke its own record in terms of the number of signed agreements, Erdoğan said, adding: “I believe we will achieve our defense export target of $6 billion at the end of the year, with the contribution of the highly successful IDEF'23."
The country achieved a record export value of $2.37 billion in the first six months of this year.
One of the largest global defense events, IDEF exhibited a range of defense products including land vehicles, weapons, simulators, radars, sonars, naval platform solutions, aviation systems, missiles, logistic vehicles, supply equipment and security systems.
Türkiye's defense industry has undergone a profound transformation over the last two decades, in a breakthrough that has been spurred by a score of Western embargoes. It aimed at reducing external dependency on Western arms through innovative engineering initiatives and domestically developed technologies and ensuring self-sufficiency.
The drive has prompted the development of homegrown air, land and marine platforms, which eventually helped Türkiye seal billions of dollars worth of deals in recent years.
The capabilities of its vehicles, spearheaded by its combat drones, triggered unprecedented demand that saw Türkiye's defense industry exports hit a record of more than $4.4 billion in 2022.
