Ankara emerges as a defense industry powerhouse

ANKARA

Türkiye’s capital city is rapidly transforming into a global center for defense industry innovation, as a new report from the Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) underscores its increasingly dominant role in national and international defense production.

Ankara-based giants like ASELSAN, TUSAŞ, ROKETSAN and MKE are not only responsible for spearheading this transformation but are also providing critical technologies to global firms such as Airbus.

The report also reveals that the localization rate in the Turkish defense sector has reached 80 percent, signaling a shift from foreign reliance to self-sufficient innovation.

According to ASO, by 2024, approximately 50 percent of the national defense industry turnover in Türkiye originates from Ankara.

Defense firms based in the capital — equipped with R&D centers — operate in organized industrial zones and technoparks, working in an integrated manner with SMEs to establish an innovation ecosystem that supplies both the domestic market and international players like Airbus, the report said.

Local companies are heavily investing in cutting-edge research and development, with facilities focused on composite materials, ceramics and nanotechnologies — components vital to aerospace and advanced weaponry, according to the report.

While companies like TUSAŞ and C.E.S. Kompozit manufacture aircraft fuselage components, Epsilon Kompozit, located in Başkent Organized Industrial Zone, stands out as one of the few private firms in Türkiye that exports parts directly to Airbus.

Academic institutions like the ODTÜ Composite Research Center and Bilkent University's NANOTAM are actively supporting research and development in the field.

Their work contributes to industry advancements by delivering outputs such as lighter armor systems, efficient solar panels and biomaterials, strengthening the link between scientific innovation and commercial application.

Beyond defense

ASO President Seyit Ardıç emphasized the long-term vision behind Ankara’s ascension in the defense industry.

He announced that the ASO Technology Base, currently under development on a 1.2 million square meter site — 440,000 square meters of which are indoor facilities — will host over 800 companies at full capacity, creating approximately 20,000 skilled jobs and contributing an additional $1.5 billion in annual exports.

Directly across from the Technology Base, the planned ASO Free Zone will span 4.5 million square meters and accommodate nearly 200 firms, expected to generate around 40,000 new jobs and add $4 billion to Türkiye’s foreign trade volume, Ardıç also said.