Members of the Turkish defense industry are due to take the stage at Malaysia’s biennial arms show, seeking to rev up cooperation and expand their presence in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
In a collective presence, the products of some 32 Turkish companies and institutions will be on display at Defense Services Asia (DSA) 2022, one of the world’s largest defense and security business gatherings.
The event kicks off on Monday and will run through Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – a prominent user of Turkish-made armored land vehicles, boats and weapons systems. The previous edition in 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic.
The Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) is coordinating the participation of Turkish firms at this year’s show.
Prominent players such as Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), Aselsan, Roketsan, Havelsan, BMC, Kale Kalıp, MKE, Nurol Makina and Otokar will be putting their latest products on display as well as TEI, FNSS, DEARSAN, DESAN, CES Advanced Composites and Defense Technologies, Derya Arms, Koç Defense, SAHA Istanbul, Yurt Defense, Simsoft, TAIS and Transvaro.
In addition to ensuring Turkey’s needs in the field of defense and security with domestic and national facilities, the Turkish companies have also managed to seal export deals around the world.
Turkey has exported around 228 products, mainly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), land vehicles and marine platforms, to 170 countries.
Malaysia is one of the industry’s important and strategic allies in Southeast Asia. Although sales to the country stood at only $2.6 million last year, they had amounted to nearly $20 million in the previous three years, according to a report by Anadolu Agency (AA).
The industry looks to lift the figure to above the $40 million level that was achieved in 2017.
The Turkish companies will meet with delegations from across the world as well as Malaysian defense industry authorities at the exhibition to discuss new cooperation and business models for their projects.
TAI’s Anka UAV and Hürjet, an advanced jet trainer, will be among the products showcased at the fair, it said in a statement on Saturday.
The company has been in an endeavor to expand collaborations in the Asian market in new generation technologies, particularly in the field of the defense industry and aviation.
TAI in November opened an engineering and design office in Malaysia, its first in Southeast Asia, to boost efforts to set up new joint projects with the country in the field of the defense industry and aviation.
It aims to carry out joint studies in various areas including UAVs, jet trainers, original helicopter development, structural capabilities and modernization programs that will contribute to the development of the aviation ecosystem.
"In our tech center in Malaysia, we aim to carry out significant studies with Malaysian engineers to enhance the two countries’ capacities in the field of aviation and space industry," Temel Kotil, the company’s CEO, said.
The contractor submitted a bid to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) light combat aircraft (LCA) tender with Hürjet last year.
The project initially kicked off in 2017, and the jet is expected to make a maiden flight in 2023.
Established in 1973, TAI is the leader of technology in design, development, manufacturing, integration of aerospace systems and modernization.
Located in the capital Ankara, it has a production plant covering an area of 4 million square meters (43 million square feet) with a 640,000 square meter industrial facility under its roof.
The 17th edition of DSA promises to be a high-profile showcase of some of the world’s most sophisticated hardware and electronic warfare in the land, air, sea and cyber domains, including border protection, citizen identification and artificial intelligence technologies, battlefield health care products and technologies, training and simulation systems, the police and homeland security peripherals and critical assets protection systems and more.
The event says more than 1,170 companies from the global defense and security sector from over 54 countries and regions are expected, as well as 37 international pavilions, some 350 VIP delegations from over 45 countries and 40,000 visitors from 50 countries and regions.