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Turkey’s Progression Into The Future Of The Defense.

Turkey is highly active in creating new systems, including high-tech equipment, using domestic resources, Turkey’s defence and aerospace exports are likely to top $4 billion by the end of the year 2022. Turkey is not only exporting these technologies, but it is also educating allies in how to use them. Turkey aims to train partner commanders and troops because it will have enough clout in the future to not only integrate those forces into its defence sector but also to strengthen its political influence in critical ally nations. 

While Turkey continues to rely largely on foreign sources for a large portion of its military hardware and technology. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Turkey intends to abolish its military industry’s reliance on foreign suppliers by 2023, the centennial of the Turkish republic’s founding. The private defence industry in Turkey, the likes of FNSS, Otokar, BMC, and Nurol Makina specialise in 4×4, 6×6, and 8×8 armoured platforms, tracked infantry combat vehicles, and main battle tanks and weapon systems in Turkey’s defence sector. These systems are sold to a broad range of consumers across the world, in addition to its National Security Forces. The most notable product samples of the Turkish Defense Industry competing in worldwide markets are 8×8 PARS, 6×6 PARS, 6X6 ARMA; 4×4 COBRA, EJDER YALCIN, VURAN; ALTAY MBT and KAPLAN Medium Tanks.

On the contrary, there is an increased usage of drones for duties ranging from intelligence collection and surveillance to border control, as well as their adaptability in counterterrorism and military operations. This tendency is amplified by the effective integration of advances in data management and artificial intelligence with drone technology, which has been dubbed a “renaissance” in the industry. Turkey has its sights set on this industry and is attempting to remain ahead of the competition by releasing new-generation drones with increased capabilities that make use of these advancements. The diverse range of drones created by Turkish firms has become the face of Turkey’s burgeoning national military sector. The Turkish arms exports market, which had previously been dominated by small arms and armoured personnel carriers, has now expanded to encompass drones, missiles, frigates, and other high-end military systems, with submarine sales on the cards. Turkish companies’ varied variety of drones has become the face of Turkey’s developing national defence business. The Turkish weapons export business, which was formerly dominated by small arms and armoured personnel carriers, has now grown to include drones, missiles, frigates, and other high-end military equipment, with submarine sales on the horizon.

Turkey’s military industry has made significant strides in developing USV capabilities. The first project, ULAQ, is presently in mass production after passing all testing and being sea-tested. The ULAQ was offered to NATO nations last month by a joint venture of ARES Shipyard and Meteksan Defence, and it is seen as a formidable contender to dominate this area. The NB57 ASW and RD09 ASuW USVs are other projects unveiled by Turkey’s premier military firm Aselsan in July 2021. This summer, Aselsan’s project partner, Sefine Shipyard, cut the first steel for the boats. Apart from these projects, Aselsan debuted its “Albatros-S” USV Swarm idea during the IDEF-2021 military expo in Istanbul in August 2021. While Albatros-S is a research and development project, it is also compatible with other USV initiatives and Albatros-S unmanned surface boats. The fourth proposal came from Dearsan Shipyard, which on December 23 announced a new family of armed unmanned surface boats (USVs), the USV 15, on its social media sites.

Meteksan Defence Industry Inc., a Turkish defence corporation, has been working with NAZAR, a new ground-based laser system. The NAZAR, one of Turkey’s most intriguing defence concepts. The land-based NAZAR System was exhibited for the first time at the Meteksan Defence booth at the IDEF 2021 Exhibition, having been developed within the scope of the 1st Phase of NAZAR Project signed between the Presidency of Defence Industries of the Republic of Turkey and Meteksan Defence in recent years. To safeguard vital bases and infrastructure, the land-based NAZAR System delivers broadband state-of-the-art laser soft-kill capabilities against EO/IR guided missiles. With its laser soft-kill capacity, the NAZAR Project, which features a technology that only a few nations in the world are working on, is seen as a strategically important project for Turkey. The system has been designed to detect EO and IR-guided missiles and to employ laser blinding and soft-kill tactics against missiles with this capability. As a result, EO/IR guided missiles will be able to be neutralised from a long distance.

NAZAR has been designed to be effective not just against known EO/IR guided missiles, but also to include reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities that will give it an edge against asymmetric threats due to its broadband operating capacity. To improve overall efficiency, the system will be able to function in conjunction with other sensors and systems.

Conclusion:

Turkey’s attempts to modernise and strengthen its national defence infrastructure have yielded very effective achievements in a number of crucial sectors. To address the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces using local sources, key defence industrial organisations have been developed, each of which fills a significant gap in their area of operation. Nonetheless, Turkey’s drones and armoured vehicles appear to have the proper mix of pricing, capability, and reputation to pique the interest of forces across the world. While the prowess and acceleration in technology and equipment innovation will not only build a strong military sector, it will also place Turkey’s defence industry among the leading exporters, further cementing Turkey’s worldwide status as a producer of high-quality, inexpensive specialised weaponry.

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The Power Struggle: Parallels of an Arm Race

The raging war impetus has got people at the edge of their seats looking at the world giving into the glory of violence. Frequent tension amongst countries over disputes that doesn’t weigh into the collateral damage. Witnessing nations build narratives on who saves who, whilst they speciously try conning one another.

The India-China standoff, the Afghanistan crisis and now the Russian-Ukraine War, have had countries building their military strengths. A high capital expenditure and revenue expenditure being incurred by countries into strong-arming one another, displaying their military strength, deftly gatekeeping their enemies. Studies suggest there is a constant rise in the defence equipment expenditure since the 2000s – the United States, China, India, Russia, and the United Kingdom were the top five spenders in 2020, accounting for approximately 60 per cent of global military spending.  There is a seething increase in defence sourcing. The Indian government recently released its budget, which allocated almost 70% of the defence capital procurement budget to the domestic industry for the years 2022-2023. In addition, private players would be encouraged to develop and improve military platforms to help the Aatmanirbharta campaign and lessen the country’s reliance on imports. 

The rising demand for defence equipment has led to an influx of demand for equipment such as riot control equipment, and body armours. The urgency to protect oneself against the advancing technology and defence sourcing has stirred up the geopolitical front. Countries strategically forming alliances, to cut down the cost of procurement and production has helped them make an evident stand, which has further accelerated the pace of this arms race. India recently signed a $375 million contract with the Philippines for the BrahMos shore-based anti-ship missile system, marking the country`s first big defence system export transaction. The supersonic missile with a range of 290 kilometres was developed in collaboration with Russia and is manufactured in India. While Japan and the United States appear to have strengthened their defence relations with two significant defence treaties. The agreement will pave the way for the two countries to collaborate on advanced defence research and development, including a defence system against destructive supersonic missiles. The agreement establishes a new mechanism for the two countries to share the costs of the US military deployment in Japan.

Since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. The Taliban has amassed a considerable amount of weapons that were abandoned on their soil by US forces. The Taliban was rumoured to be providing Pakistan with a large amount of American weaponry taken from the Afghan Army. These hush-hush deals have closely impacted the growth of defence equipment in the South Asian continent. Surrounding countries fear a rise in terrorism. The Indian home ministry suspects a high chance of these weapons being used for violence in Pakistan and neighbouring states suggesting an unjust turmoil against the deeply ingrained communal clashes in the territory. Apart from the unsought threats, India has found itself in a showcase of gallantry against China. India seems to have been building and strengthening their military while China setting up bases in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The Chinese debt-trap strategy has played a vital role in giving way to these military advancements in the debt-ridden countries. Concerns have been raised about China’s loans to Sri Lanka, with fears that the government would be unable to repay them, and that it will use them to undermine India and the United States supremacy in the Indo-Pacific region.   

The Russians invading Ukraine makes people wonder if the world will experience another world war. If I were to give my opinion, the war was inevitable, and so is the arms race that follows. The USA has officially sanctioned $350 Million for Ukraine’s aid for weaponry. Following a wave of the US and other western sanctions against Russian banks and billionaires, intended at punishing Putin and his inner circle for the invasion of Ukraine and hurting the Russian economy, the new help comes as a welcome relief. 

Deviating from the terms of a treaty is an act of war, bringing the treaty to stand null and void. It raises questions, manoeuvring the greys of the circumstances – is humanity collateral damage? Is powering through ranks in terms of strength important to have caused a stir in peace that a treaty held secured? Humanity often gets side-lined in chaos stirred by the wrath that war brings along. 

While on the sidelines, another contest is brewing. China has long claimed Taiwan as its own, intimidates it with its armed forces, and maintains the right to attack it. The recent decision by the US President to send a delegation to Taiwan has given additional validity to fears that China may take action against Taiwan. China’s military, known as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is undergoing enormous reforms, and the government is spending more money on defence than it has in the past, bolstering China’s influence in international issues such as the South China Sea. A domino effect has been set in motion for us to see, who’ll come on top. 

Never did we know power has such a hold over our consciousness. Not being content with what one possesses has led to this psychological concept of being on top. The power players lay out strategic plans, to aggravate conditions just to benefit and not think of how the preceding consequences will haunt what is left of humanity. Will the arms race come to an end, or we shall remain unthought for as collateral damage?

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