ASELSAN has been in business since 1975, starting with its core business of communications but expanding into several other fields such as electro-optics, unmanned systems, and C4ISR systems. Can you provide us with an introduction on how these new businesses have evolved and developed as ASELSAN has grown?

ASELSAN was established in 1975 to fulfill the communication requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces and to contribute to the development of a local defense industry by enhancing technological capability and creating a workforce equipped with the latest technological know-how. Over the past 40 years, our in-house research and development (R&D) activities have advanced these goals, and our accumulated technological know-how, complemented with international collaborations and manufacturing experience gained through licensed and co-production activities, have enabled us to design and produce devices and systems for all types of land, air, sea and space vehicles. As a result, ASELSAN has become Turkey’s leading defense company today, with activities in five different sectors, including communications and information technology, microelectronics, guidance and electro-optics, radar and electronic warfare, C4ISR and defense system technologies, and transportation, security, energy, automation, and medical systems. We export our products to approximately 50 countries around the world and rank 62nd among Defense News World’s top 100 defense companies.

ASELSAN has a number of affiliate companies and subsidiaries. How do these companies complement ASELSAN, and what is their role in the future development of ASELSAN?

Our affiliates and subsidiaries act as our region-specific local entities in the global domain, and we owe part of our success to them. They are essentially vessels of ASELSAN technology, generating local value and involved in a broad range of activities, from design and production to qualification and integration. ASELSAN has pursued opportunities for development and growth both at home and abroad, with a vision to become one of the best players in the global defense industry. We have evolved from being a company growing within itself to a global company buying, establishing, and partnering with other companies at home and abroad. For example, we have established factories in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Kazakhstan, holding 49% of the shares, to manufacture and sell ASELSAN products in these and nearby countries. We founded an electro-optics design company in South Africa and own a company named ASELSAN BAKÜ that administers our marketing activities in Azerbaijan. We have also realized technology transfer programs for our radios to be produced under license in Pakistan and Indonesia. Moreover, we have executed a technology transfer between ASELSAN and King Abdullah City for Science and Technology Institute in Saudi Arabia for the local development of national radio waveforms to be used in ASELSAN Software Defined Radios. ASELSAN is executing a contract with Military Industries Corporation, for the local manufacturing of ASELSAN SDRs, in a jointly established production facility in Saudi Arabia.

The long-range anti-air missile system tender, T-Loramids, has recently been cancelled, and the government may soon commission ASELSAN and ROKETSAN to build this new and very complex system. In what areas would the T-Loramids project need international cooperation and technology? What critical technologies and strengths would ASELSAN be able to provide?

The Turkish defense industry has been commissioned to design a very important system for the air defense of our country, and we are ready to take on this major role for our national defense. These are very complex systems or “system of systems” since they are formed of different high-technology subsystems such as radar, missiles, command-and-control, and fire control systems.