The Engine Room · Defense
Defense: the industry, the exports, and Türkiye's place in NATO
In twenty years Türkiye moved from buying allied kit to building the drones, warships, and aircraft that allies now want. The desk follows that shift: the exports, the platforms from the TB2 to the ANKA III and KAAN, and the leverage it buys inside the alliance.
Türkiye's unmanned fighter fires a supersonic missile, and hits from 120 km
Baykar's Bayraktar Kızılelma made its first live firing of a supersonic air-to-surface missile, a Roketsan JET-230, striking a target over the sea from more than 120 kilometers out. Another Turkish weapon on a Turkish airframe.
The Yıldırımhan: Türkiye's reach for an intercontinental missile
At the SAHA 2026 show in İstanbul, Türkiye unveiled a mock-up of a 6,000-kilometer intercontinental missile. It is a statement of ambition, a decade in the making, and still waiting on its first flight test.
Aselsan's €1.47 billion bet, and Türkiye's climb up NATO's supply chain
A serial-production contract for the Steel Dome landed the same week Aselsan was picked for a NATO air-defense study beside Airbus, Raytheon and Thales. A Turkish firm in the room with the Western primes would have read as fantasy a decade ago.
Who's buying Turkish arms, and why now
In one fortnight France softened on the SAMP/T, Germany went looking for Turkish missiles, and Azerbaijan deepened with Baykar. Fifty years after an arms embargo left Türkiye unable to arm itself, the buyers are the ones knocking.
What Türkiye signed at NATO's Ankara defense forum
Deals across five capability areas, a cruise-missile commitment, and Aselsan among the alliance's chosen few. The host NATO valued for its map now builds its arsenal.
The seat paid for in Korea: Türkiye's 74 years in NATO
Türkiye bought its way into the alliance with a brigade sent to Korea. Seventy-four years on it holds the straits, hosts the bombs, and fields the second army, indispensable and never fully trusted.
NATO 3.0 in Ankara: how Türkiye's role changed since 2004
The last time NATO's leaders met on Turkish soil, in 2004, Türkiye mattered mostly for its map. When they land in Ankara for the 2026 summit, the host builds the kit other members are lining up to buy.
Türkiye's arms exports near $11 billion, most of it to NATO allies
Defense and aerospace exports jumped 47% to $10.9 billion in the year to May, with NATO members taking 57%, days before Türkiye hosts the alliance's summit.
NATO comes to Ankara as Washington pulls back and Türkiye steps up
NATO holds its summit in Ankara on 7-8 July, Türkiye's second time as host, as Washington thins its forces in Europe and presses allies to carry more of their own defense.