President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed at the delivery ceremony of the world's first UCAV carrier TCG Anadolu and the steel cutting ceremony of the new MILGEM frigates in Istanbul on April 10.
“Our Bayraktar TB-3 UCAV Kızılelma unmanned fighter jet and HÜRJET light attack aircraft will be able to take off and land on TCG Anadolu," said President Erdoğan, and added, “We see this ship as a symbol that will reinforce our position as a regional leader in the Türkiye Century."
During the cutting steel for the 6th, 7th and 8th ships of the MILGEM ISTIF-Class frigates and the beginning of their construction for the Blue Homeland, President Erdoğan stated, “With the delivery of the amphibious assault ship, Türkiye has taken a major step toward the production of its national aircraft carrier. The target of constructing three ships simultaneously and delivering them to our Naval Forces in approximately 36 months is an unprecedented project in the world."
Türkiye has unveiled domestic and national projects in the defense industry as opposed to foreign procurement since 2004. The number of defense industry companies in Türkiye has increased from 56 to 2,700 since 2002.
“We have gone a long way in reducing our foreign dependency. This is proven by our defense exports reaching a record level of USD 4.4 billion by 2022, up from USD 248 million," said President Erdoğan and added, “We will achieve building the Türkiye Century by moving forward on the safe path that our defense industry has paved for us."