The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) received one of the most modern main battle tanks in the world, the new, locally-produced ALTAY, on April 23 at a ceremony honored by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“We have reduced our foreign dependency in the defense industry from around 80 percent down to around 20 percent over the last 20 years. The number of defense projects, which once stood at a humble 62 in 2002, has today surpassed 750", President Erdoğan announced, adding that the total budget for defense projects in Türkiye has also risen to USD 75 billion, up from USD 5.5 billion in 2002.
President Erdoğan further said that Türkiye has recently started to manufacture armor systems, which it previously imported from the international defense market and were occasionally subject to embargoes. The President was quoted as adding, “In a similar vein, we have equipped our security forces with various types of unmanned land vehicles, particularly light and medium-type ones, at the disposal of. We are now capable of covering all our land vehicle requirements through domestic and national resources."
Behind every product developed in the defense industry lies years of hard labor, patience, and financial power, President Erdoğan noted.
"This is how each of our UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles)— which stand out across the globe today— and our armored land vehicles, warships, frigates, and missiles, as well as other globally recognized systems, have emerged," President Erdoğan added.