Turkish defense and electronics giant Aselsan saw a stunning performance across the board in 2025, the year that marked half a century of its existence.
From a stock rally, new contracts and plans for a vast base in Ankara, to establishing two new centers in the southeast of the country, the firm showed an invidious growth.
Starting its journey in Ankara in 1975, Aselsan was established to meet the communication tool requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Over the years, it has become one of the leading domestic and global companies in the field of electro-optics, radars, communication and control systems.
Apart from its base in Ankara, it significantly expanded its global reach, having subsidiaries in regions from the Middle East to Latin America and Southeast Asia. Having previously established subsidiaries in Sivas, Konya, and Adıyaman, it also set up a joint venture in Gaziantep and a new company in Malatya at the end of 2025.
Turkish Armed Forces Foundation ("TSKGV") is the main shareholder, which holds 74.2% of the capital and maintains control of the company.
Aselsan climbed five places to rank 42nd in the Defense News Top 100 list for 2024, which positions the world's largest defense industry companies. Now, it aims to become one of the top 30 defense companies by 2030.
The company signed various contracts last year, while its revenue for the first nine months of 2025 reached nearly TL 90.9 billion (around $2.1 billion at the current exchange rate), representing a real increase of 12.3% compared to the same period of the previous year, according to its financial data.
While Aselsan’s export contracts in 2015-2019 were largely focused on radios, electro-optics and spare parts, its export portfolio diversified in 2020-2023, with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) payloads and smart munitions taking center stage. In 2024-2025, the value added by its exports increased further with products in electronic warfare, air defense and modernization, a recent report by Anadolu Agency (AA) indicated.
Europe and NATO member states have, meanwhile, emerged as the fastest-growing export markets for Aselsan in recent years.
The company now also sits at the top of the Türkiye’s stock exchange with a market valuation surpassing TL 1 trillion. Its stock saw a stunning performance throughout 2025, rising more than 200%.
On Tuesday, its stock was further up to TL 245.2 at midday amid a robust start of the year for the main BIST 100 index in general.
The rise of Aselsan's stock is attributed to the overall increase in defense stocks globally amid a rush to boost military spending, but with a lift of over 200% in a single year, the Turkish company left behind many peers, including, for example, Germany's Rheinmetall and the U.K.'s Rolls-Royce.
This has made the firm one of the world’s 20 most valuable defense companies, while it stood among the top 10 in Europe, according to its CEO Ahmet Akyol.
Also adding to its appeal is its role in Türkiye’s multilayered defense system dubbed "Steel Dome."
Last August, the foundations were laid for its Oğulbey Technology Base, with new investment worth $1.5 billion. "This investment, one of the largest industrial investments in Türkiye in recent years, also marks the single largest defence investment in the history of our republic," Aselsan said on its website to mark the occasion.
Akyol, in a recent post on social media platform X, evaluated in detail the company's performance in 2025, stating that they "left the mark" with technological and financial performance in the year marking the 50th anniversary of Aselsan.
In a long list of achievements, he cited that they've risen to the position of "most valuable" company on the Istanbul stock exchange, while becoming "the first company" in Türkiye to reach TL 1 trillion in valuation.
"We have signed the highest amount of domestic and foreign contracts in our company's history," he added.
He also mentioned that they added three new countries to the list of nations they are exporting to, lifting the total number to 95.
One of the company's most notable agreements last year was its $410 million export contract with EU and NATO member Poland for the direct sale of electronic warfare systems.
