“30% of the turnover comes mostly from SMEs”
Speaking at the opening of the program, organized under the coordination of the Undersecretariat of Defense Industry (SSM) Industrialization Department and in cooperation with the SSM Land Vehicles Department, OSSA Board Chairman Ahmet Mithat Ertuğ said that Turkey, which until recently imported almost everything for the defense industry, has now entered a period of maturity.
Ertuğ stated that the sector's size is $3.5 billion and that it creates more than 50,000 jobs, adding: “The sector offers very important opportunities and possibilities to SMEs. The fact that 30% of the total turnover of the defense industry, defined as defense and aerospace, is provided by sub-industry firms, the majority of which are SMEs, clearly demonstrates the importance of SMEs in this sector. As OSSA, our priority is to bring together main industry firms and SMEs, and to communicate their common problems with a single voice. Thankfully, we have successfully strengthened our relationships over the years. Today is the day to produce projects together with industrial firms and to act together with them.”
“Our Model: The Undersecretariat of Defense Industry’s Industrialization Policy”
Orhan Aydın, Chairman of the Board of Directors of OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone, emphasized the importance of the work done by the Undersecretariat of Defense Industry, noting that compared to the work done on the civilian side, it demonstrates a very serious stance in the industrialization of our country. Aydın stated, “Because their efforts are crucial for our country, their commitment to the sector, their expansion beyond the main industry to include SMEs, and their strategic pursuit of this are extremely valuable to us. We remind other institutions, ministries, and organizations on the civilian side that they should also do this.”
"Our example, our model, is the industrialization policy of our Undersecretariat of Defense Industry. For this reason, I would like to thank our Undersecretariat once again. We are also grateful to our main industrialists," he said.
Chairman Aydın, explaining that major industries, primarily ASELSAN, have made a very clear contribution to the formation of defense industry companies and the development of the ecosystem in OSTİM, made the following assessments in his speech: “When we compare this with other regions in Turkey, we can clearly see their contribution to the formation of the ecosystem in Ankara, especially in and around OSTİM. Therefore, I would like to thank them very much. I also think that OSSA, which we established under the auspices of OSTİM for industrialists to work together here, has created an important function as an interface in establishing dialogue with the sector more than before.”
“We need to nationalize our industries even more”
Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) President Nurettin Özdebir said, “In order to both protect our homeland and support the defense of the countries around us, we need to develop, strengthen, and nationalize our industries even more.”
President Özdebir shared the following views: “Today, if they don't provide us with certain things, at least the special aluminum alloys used in aviation, it's useless no matter how much production capability you have. Similarly, in land vehicles, if they don't provide us with sensitive materials and certain products, it's impossible for us to produce them. Therefore, we need to expand deeper into this market and production, and more SMEs need to get involved. At the same time, our government should provide support and make investments to produce other things that are not currently produced. Our Undersecretariat of Defense Industry, may God bless them; their entire team, our Undersecretary, Deputy Undersecretaries, Department Heads, and all employees have achieved tremendous success in increasing the market and production depth in this sector. I wish all sectors had such a supporter. Reminding you once again that this market will grow much more in the coming period, and that the world center of this market is around us, I thank you for your contributions to the protection of our homeland to date.”
The New Generation Light Armored Vehicles Project will be developed with SMEs
SSM Land Vehicles Department Head Fatih Yakıcı began his speech by saying, “At this stage of our defense industry, the support of our OSTİM and OSSA companies was very important. Very important work was carried out under the coordination of our Undersecretariat. We feel this even more in land vehicles. Hopefully, we will receive even more of your support in the future and create a completely independent domestic land vehicle sector.”
In his speech, Yakıcı made statements regarding the New Generation Light Armored Vehicles Project, saying, “Today we are here within the scope of the New Generation Light Armored Vehicles Project, which is needed by our Land Forces Command. This is an important project for our sector. Because there are many vehicles and many different configurations. In this context, within the scope of our projects, how can our subcontractors, SMEs, and sub-industry increase our domestic contribution even more? We want to share this with you within the scope of our project.”
Explaining that the project will be long-term, the Head of the Undersecretariat of Defense Industries provided the following information: “As the name suggests, we will have new generation vehicles. We will also use our new technologies here. As the Undersecretariat, the Industrialization Department and the Land Vehicles Department, we want to provide the necessary support to develop our new technologies. In this regard, we want to realize this project successfully together with you.”
Nearly 1300 Vehicles to be Delivered This Year
As the Undersecretariat, we have carried out significant projects in 2016 and the first six months of 2017. Last year, 900 vehicles were delivered. This year, we plan to deliver nearly 1300 vehicles to our Armed Forces, the General Directorate of Security, and the Gendarmerie General Command. In line with this, of course, the production capacities of our main contractors have also increased significantly. You know our Undersecretariat's basic strategy in this regard. We want our main contractors to distribute all their work to subcontractors and SMEs. OSSA also provides significant support in this area. It is important that this capacity increase is transferred to our main contractors and subcontractors. We are trying to provide the necessary guidance within the scope of our projects.
Our vehicle companies are achieving significant sales not only in our domestic market but also in international markets. In this regard, it is crucial for our main contractors to support our subcontractors in both domestic and international markets. How can we utilize the new generation technologies in our next-generation vehicle project? This should be our primary focus. From today onwards, we will concentrate on this. We will follow new technologies worldwide, learn about their application in our country, and support our subcontractors in implementing these new technologies.
“We want subcontractors to focus on specialized new technologies”
In our defense industry sector, it is important for subcontractors to focus on certain areas, to be a company specializing in those areas, and for all our main contractors to work with such companies. This serves as a reference when used abroad or in Turkey. It also provides a significant market opportunity abroad. Therefore, our request to our subcontractors and sub-industry companies is that they focus on specialized new technologies and conduct development and R&D studies on these new technologies. Our Undersecretariat is always ready to provide support wherever needed.”
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